Last week, we reported Institute for Basic Life Principles founder Bill Gothard is being sued by five former employees who claim they were sexually harassed by Gothard during their time with the IBLP.
Gothard is best known to the public as a friend and mentor of the Duggar family. Now, another close Duggar associate is being implicated in the scandal:
According to Radar Online, Bringing Up Bates star Gil Bates is also being sued for allegedly helping to cover up the abuse.
Bates is reportedly one of six defendants to be named in the suit for assisting Gothard with his systematic abuse of dozens of female employees over the course of several decades.
Like Gothard, Bates is best known as a longtime friend of Jim Bob Duggar and a famous follower of the controversial Quiverfull movement that’s espoused by the Duggar clan.
Like Jim Bob, Gil Bates is both the patriarch of a family of 19 and the star of a basic cable reality show. The Bates family’s Bringing Up Bates currently airs on UP TV.
In recent months, it’s been rumored that Gil’s son Lawson Bates is “courting” Jinger Duggar – Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s 21-year-old daughter.
The Duggar family has yet to respond to the accusations against Bates.
Though they are not directly involved in Bates’ alleged wrongdoing, it’s certainly an unwelcome situation for a family that’s been repeatedly rocked by scandal this year.
