"19 Kids and Counting" stars Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar broke their silence in an interview with Fox News' Megyn Kelly on Wednesday, and it brought out a very powerful and emotional response from "The Talk" host Sheryl Underwood on Thursday.
During their interview, the Duggars revealed they didn't seek any sort of help for their oldest son Josh until the third time he confessed to them that he had molested five minor girls. The breaking point, they said, was when Josh admitted to touching his youngest sister, who was only 5 years old at the time. Sisters Jessa, 22, and Jill, 24, spoke out near the end of the interview, confirming they were two of Josh's victims.
Underwood, who is a survivor of sexual abuse, did not accept what many saw as excuses from the Duggar parents.
"I went through that [at] 3, 4, 5 years old ... you know something is wrong and if nobody listens to you and nobody is going to stop it whether I'm asleep or not. I didn't sleep. I learned how to stay up as long as I could. I may sleep at school, because nobody is going to protect me, so I had to protect myself," she said.
She continued, "Aisha you said that it didn't help [the Duggars] to do this interview. What it really did was it helped us, the world, to see what happens to people when they're in some type of family structure when the people you're supposed to trust to protect you seem to be your co-conspirator in your violation."
During their interview with Kelly, the Duggars made sure to state that, "As parents, you aren't mandatory reporters," also noting, Josh "was still a kid and he was still a juvenile. He wasn't an adult ... This wasn't rape or anything like that."
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