Police report: Jim Bob Duggar did not act on son's molestation confession for a year

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Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Josh Duggar
Josh Duggar, executive director of FRC Action, speaks in favor the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark.
AP Photo/Danny Johnston-AP

The patriarch of the 19 Kids and Counting family took no action for a year after son Josh confessed to molesting his sisters, according to the newly released police report.

Josh Duggar came to Jim Bob just after he turned 14 to tell his father he had gone into his sisters' room while they were sleeping and touched them in inappropriate ways, a police report obtained by In Touch Weekly states.

PHOTOS: The Duggar family through the years

Jim Bob did not take any action after this first confession, In Touch reports. This was followed by at least six more incidents of Josh allegedly molesting his sisters and their friends, including one when he touched a 5-year-old sister in inappropriate areas while she sat in a sibling's lap reading a book.

"James said that after these incidents, he met with the elders of his church and told them what was going on," the police report states of Jim Bob. "James said that they all agreed that [Josh, redacted] needed to be put in a treatment program."

Josh began the program in March 2002, according to the report, a year after the initial confession to his father.

InTouch reports that Jim Bob and Michelle could have faced six years in prison for Permitting Abuse of a Minor, but the statute of limitations had run out by the time it was reported in 2006.

The TLC show about the Duggar family, 19 Kids and Counting, has been pulled from the network's program schedule since the allegations came to light. While the show is not currently in production, TLC has not commented on its long-term plans for the series.

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