Jessa Duggar has identified herself as one of the victims who Josh Duggar molested when he was a teenager, but she’s defending him and said he isn’t a “child molester or a pedophile or a rapist.”
In an interview with Megyn Kelly that will air Friday, the 22-year-old acknowledged that what her brother did was “wrong.” (RELATED: Jim Bob And Michelle Duggar: ‘He Was Just Curious About Girls’)
“I do want to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him a child molester or a pedophile or a rapist, some people are saying. I’m like that is so overboard and a lie really, I mean people get mad at me for saying that but I can say this because I was one of the victims.”
“The system that was set up to protect kids, both those who make stupid mistakes or have problems like this in their life and the ones that are affected by those choices. It’s greatly failed.”
(Photo: Doug Meszler / Splash News)
A police report that surfaced this week stated that Josh Duggar molested four of his sisters and the family babysitter. After confessing to his parents, Jim Bob and Michelle waited 16 months before alerting the police.
“I would do anything to go back to those teen years and take different actions,” Duggar said in an online statement.
“In my life today, I am so very thankful for God’s grace, mercy and redemption.” (RELATED: Police Report: Sister Was 5 When Josh Duggar Molested Her)