The couple’s oldest son, Josh Duggar, is in prison for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse images. The family’s original show, “19 Kids and Counting,” was canceled in 2015 after it was revealed that Josh Duggar had molested five girls, four of them his sisters, as a teenager. No charges were ever filed.
In her new book, Jill Duggar Dillard describes still being upset, angry, and disappointed with the situation involving Josh. She also addresses the pain of having an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit dismissed; it involved the release of a private police report that detailed molestations.
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“Even though this system failed us as victims and our desire for justice, and all of these people who just used and abused their positions and were not held accountable,” said Dillard, “we are still going to fight for victims’ rights through Derick’s line of work.”
As an assistant district attorney in Oklahoma, Derick Dillard said he works with crime victims daily. “We want to try and protect them, and actually try and make sure that we can follow up and be genuine when we say, ‘This is a safe place,’” he said. By contrast, he noted that his wife and her sisters thought they were being protected when they made statements as minors against Josh.
“We hope and pray that going forward that nobody ever has to be in that position that we were in,” said Jill Duggar Dillard. “I didn’t want to go and rehash everything in detail because it is a very sensitive place for me.”
Dillard, who emphasized that she does love her parents and siblings, said she felt “called” to publish her book. “I feel passionate about empowering other people to find their voice,” she said. “And if they do that through my story, great. I want them to feel like they’re not alone.”
