Forgive Brother For Molestation, Say TLC's Duggar Daughters

On Friday, the two Duggar daughters in TLC's reality show, "19 Kids and Counting," said to Fox News that they did not harbor ill-will against their brother Josh for harassing them, yet they felt 'revictimized' due to the media outlets that have disclosed offenses committed by juveniles, according to channelnewsasia.

Jill Dillard, 24, and Jessa Seewald, 22, told "The Kelly File" host Megyn Kelly that they were not at first aware of "inappropriate advances" about 12 years ago from Josh. They became aware of what happened during their sleep only when he told their parents.

"He was very sly, the girls didn't catch on," said Jessa, who was nine years old at that time. "It was very subtle, and so I think that for us, we realized that this is serious, but at the same time, it wasn't like a horror story."

They denied that Josh was a paedophile or a rapist, and it was like "mild, inappropriate touching" on fully clothed victims, according to theguardian. After all, it happened years ago, when Josh was "a young boy in puberty" who was "a little too curious about girls", they said.

Jill and Jessa are married now. They admitted that the family forgave Josh Duggar, now 27, who was never arrested or charged for the offences that involved four sisters and a babysitter, including a girl who was younger than 10 years at the time.

Instead, they were furious at the tabloid that released police reports filed in 2006, which recorded the offences that had been done by their brother.

Jill, amid tears, admitted that "maybe there's an agenda" behind the tabloid leak of records, but added that it could be harmful to other "victims" who might be too scared to report the incidents. "The victims are the only ones who should speak for themselves," said Jill.

"I see it as a re-victimisation that's a thousand times worse," she added. "We'd already forgiven Josh, we'd already moved on. They don't have a right to do this. We are victims. They can't do this to us."

TLC, owned by Discovery Communications, gave no comment about the future of the show. Last month, when it heard that Josh had harassed minor girls, the network pulled all the episodes of "19 Kids," the most popular show.

However, the sisters admitted that they did not care for the show. "It's not always been easy on television and yet we've always allowed the filming to take place and allow people to see our struggles ... this is another struggle that we're going through," Jill said.

On Wednesday, the Duggar parents Jim Bob and Michelle were slammed for downplaying their son's offences.

Last month, Josh Duggar released a statement expressing his regret for behaving "inexcusably" 12 years ago. He also resigned from the Christian lobbying group, the Family Research Council. "I would do anything to go back to those teen years and take different actions. In my life today, I am so very thankful for God's grace, mercy and redemption," he said.

He has not been seen since.