It’s been almost three years since the world learned that Josh Duggar molested five young girls, four of whom were his sisters.
Initially, it looked as though the scandal would bring an end to the Duggars’ wildly lucrative media empire, especially after Josh was caught cheating on his wife using an online account he created solely for that purpose.
In that time, the rest of Josh’s family has gone to great pains to distance themselves from the disgraced former lobbyist.
He rarely appears on any of his siblings’ social media pages, and the Duggars have gone to such great lengths to keep Josh off their popular reality show that he was once digitally erased from a scene in Counting On.
These days, Josh works on a used car lot owned by his father, and while he’s still invited to family functions, sources say he’s mostly cut off from his siblings and parents.
Along with his wife and five children, Josh lives in a separate town, attends a separate church, and has little involvement in the day-to-day lives of his more famous family members.
Josh’s parents helped him to avoid criminal prosecution, but there’s a modicum of comfort in knowing he has at least paid some small price for his deplorable actions.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that Josh’s exile had led him to change his ways.
In a recent discussion on Reddit, one verified user described himself thusly:
“I live in Springdale and my uncle and aunt go to the same home church as the Duggars. They’ve attended my church multiple times and I’ve hung out with them at family camps and home school retreats a lot.
“There seems to be a huge misconception that they’re insane (I grew up around this so my definition is probably different than yours) but if you have any questions I can try to clear anything up to the best of my ability.”
He encouraged other users to ask him questions about the Duggars’ lifestyle and not surprisingly, it wasn’t long before the conversation turned to Josh.
Asked if the family seems hapy despite the tumultuous events of the past three years, the Springdale resident had this to say:
“Honestly, yes, the only one who seems like she’s miserable is Anna. And as someone who has met Josh multiple times, he’s not someone who seems like he’d be a whole lot of fun to be married too.”
He elaborated:
“[Josh] just stares at every girl he meets like she is an object for him to do something with.”
“Most of the Duggar boys are very respectful and are good at keeping their eyes up — Josh never has been, and I know he was reprimanded a lot for his wandering eyes as a kid,” the source adds.
Obviousy, it’s disturbing to think that Josh’s parents may have ignored early warning signs of potentially deviant behavior.
But it’s even more disturbing to think the father of five may not have changed his ways.
Sadly, with the wall of secrecy the Duggars have built up around themselves, it seems extremely unlikely that any further misconduct from Josh would ever become public knowledge.
Watch Counting On online for more from reality TV’s most famous family.
