Jill Duggar Dillard has become the first member of the Duggar Family to comment on the arrest of her brother, Joseph Duggar, on Wednesday for allegedly molesting a nine-year-old girl in 2020.
Although the rest of the Duggars have to comment publicly on Joe’s arrest and shocking charges, Jill and her husband Derick Dillard put out a statement on their website on Thursday, condemning Joe for his alleged actions and expressing their sympathy and prayers for the alleged victim, as well as Joe’s wife Kendra and their four kids.
Jill and Derick made it clear that they had no idea about Joe’s alleged actions until they heard he had been arrested. (As The Ashley previously reported, Joe was booked into the Washington County Jail in Arkansas on charges of Lewd and Lascivious Behavior– Molestation of a Victim Less Than 12 Years Old, as well as Lewd and Lascivious Behavior Conducted By a Person 18 Years or Older. He remains there as of press time, but will soon be extradited to Florida, where the alleged molestation took place.)
“We were shocked yesterday evening to learn of Jill’s brother (Joseph Duggar’s) arrest,” the Dillards’ statement reads. “We first learned of anything related to his charges yesterday via a text from a friend who messaged us about the recent media reports of Joseph’s arrest and his alleged confession to molesting a juvenile female in 2020.
“We are shocked and heartbroken.”
Jill is only three years older than Joseph– who is the seventh of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar‘s 19 children. (As 19 Kids & Counting fans are very aware, Jill and Joseph’s oldest brother, Josh, is currently in federal prison after being convicted in 2021 of receiving and possessing child sex abuse materials.)
Although Jill and Joseph had once been close, Jill made it clear that she does not support her brother’s alleged actions.
“We strongly condemn abuse,” the Dillards’ statement reads. “We support the rule of law and hope that justice will be achieved. Our hearts go out to the innocent juvenile victim of this unspeakable crime and her family.”
The Dillards also expressed their hope that the alleged victim is able to get the “help and support she needs and deserves in the days ahead.”
Jill and Derick also sent their sympathy to Joe’s wife Kendra, with whom he shares four young children. (As of press time, Kendra has not spoken publicly about her husband’s arrest.)
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“We love our sister-in-law Kendra, and our four nieces and nephews and we pray that they feel loved and supported during this time as we cannot imagine the indescribable pain they feel as they process and grieve everything,” the statement reads.
Unfortunately, Jill and three of her sisters know exactly what the alleged victim is likely going through, given that they were molested by Josh when they were kids. The molestations were exposed by a tabloid in 2015, causing the Duggars to scramble to try to save their show, “19 Kids & Counting.” Jill— along with her sister Jessa Duggar Seewald (who was also one of Josh’s victims)— appeared on Megyn Kelly‘s show to defend Josh and come forward as two of his victims.
Jill later confessed on the 2023 documentary Shiny Happy People that her father, Jim Bob Duggar, and his PR team called on her and Jessa to do the interview and asked them downplay the sexual abuse they endured from Josh, in a desperate attempt to save the show.
On ‘Shiny Happy People,’ Jill revealed that she regrets doing that interview, but at the time she didn’t feel like she had a choice.
“There was an urgency to figure out how the show was gonna be handled, in the wake of the 2015 events [where Josh’s molestations were exposed],” Jill— who was about 12 when Josh molested her— said during an interview for ‘Shiny Happy People.’
In the years since Josh’s molestations were exposed, Jill has distanced herself from her family. She has stated that she is no longer close to some of her siblings, although it is unknown if Joe is one of those siblings.
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On Thursday, a video of Joe being booked into the Washington County jail in Arkansas was released. In the video, Joe can be heard mentioning that he had been at the jail before, but not as an inmate. He then mentions his brother having been there.
You can watch Joe’s jail intake video below.
(Photos: Amazon Prime; Washington County Sheriffs Department; Instagram)
One Response
I was abused by my older brother and it was swept under the rug when I came forward about the abuse. Years later, he was arrested on federal charges on a huge CP sting – the things he downloaded were unspeakably evil. I was pressured by family members to give him a positive character reference letter during his trial, which I absolutely refused to do. I know exactly what these girls are going through, and my heart goes out to them. Abusers and enablers should be jailed for life.