The untold truth of 19 Kids and Counting

The family and show were rocked by sex abuse scandal

In May, 2015 In Touch broke the story that the eldest boy, Joshua Duggar, had been investigated for (and admitted to) molesting five underage girls when he was a teenager. More than one of the girls were reportedly his sisters. In Touch was able to access a hidden police report from 2006 via a Freedom of Information Act request that detailed the incidents, including police interviews with the two parents, but not with Josh himself. The abuses would likely never have come to light if, according to interviews, a family friend who was in the know hadn't written notes about Josh's actions, stashed them in a book, and then forgetfully lent the book to a friend who discovered the letter and notified police in 2006 (you can't make this stuff up).

The family and certain members of their religious community knew about the attacks that occurred from 2002-2003, but did not immediately alert authorities. The report notes that rather than be tried by law enforcement, Jim Bob instead "met with the elders of [his] church and told them what was going on." Josh was reportedly sent to a "Christian Program" where he would supposedly undergo "hard physical work and counseling." However, as was also uncovered in the police reports, Michelle Duggar later admitted to police that he had merely been sent to stay with a family friend to help him with his construction business. The documents also revealed that Jim Bob blocked police requests to interview Josh. Although the investigation had to be abandoned due to the statute of limitations, Josh, the Duggar family, and TLC became the focus of a media frenzy. Josh and his family were widely criticized for the circumstances of the crimes, their handling of the crimes, and their perceived hypocrisy in the face of their extensive and controversial "family values activism."

The show was canceled during its highest rated season

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Amid all the pressure coming from the public and from other media outlets, in July 2015, TLC announced that it would no longer air 19 Kids and Counting. In their press release statement the network stated they were "especially concerned for the victims in this situation, including the Duggar family." In light of criticism that the network continued to air new episodes of 19 Kids and Counting for over a year after the scandal was unearthed, and was seemingly using the molestation case as a ratings booster, TLC worked with "victims' rights and advocacy organizations" to produce a 60 minute documentary about victims of abuse. However, since this documentary also starred the Duggars, it did little to squelch negative public judgement.

Josh had a porn addiction and a secret account on an "infidelity" website

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In another shocking development a few weeks later, Gawker, the former flagship publication of heavy-hitter Gawker Media, broke the story that in a massive hack of AshleyMadison.com, the notorious extramarital affair hookup website, Josh Duggar's name and address was publicly associated with two separate monthly "affair guaranteed" level accounts, for which he had so far paid "a total of $986.76." Josh, who had proposed to his wife on an episode of 19 Kids and Counting, remained mum for a few weeks, and then posted a public apology on his mother Michelle's popular blog.

His apology included the following statement: "While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife."