--- title: Duggar Scandal: Josh Duggar's Sisters Speak Out In Defense description: They say their brother was "a little too curious about girls" canonical: https://time.com/3911150/josh-duggar-jessa-jill-interview/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-05T19:08:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:58:02.056Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Duggar Sisters Speak Out In Defense of Josh og:description: They say their brother was "a little too curious about girls" og:url: https://time.com/3911150/josh-duggar-jessa-jill-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b7694af7a3ae0da/6988514b55a859bc2ca8c23c/josh-duggar.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 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. on Aug. 29, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Duggar Sisters Speak Out In Defense of Josh twitter:description: They say their brother was "a little too curious about girls" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b7694af7a3ae0da/6988514b55a859bc2ca8c23c/josh-duggar.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Duggar Sisters Speak Out in Defense of Josh by [Amanda Michelle Steiner / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Amanda Michelle Steiner / People Jun 5, 2015 7:08 PM UTC  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. on Aug. 29, 2014. 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. on Aug. 29, 2014.Danny Johnston—AP by [Amanda Michelle Steiner / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Amanda Michelle Steiner / People Jun 5, 2015 7:08 PM UTC [Jessa Seewald](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:JessaDuggar,00.html) and [Jill Dillard](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:JillDuggar,00.html) are speaking out in defense of their brother, [Josh Duggar](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:JoshuaDuggar,00.html), who molested them when they were young. However, the [_19 Kids and Counting_](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,MediaProductsTax:19KidsandCounting,00.html) stars insist that Josh is not a “child molester or a pedophile or a rapist,” Jessa, 22, tells Megyn Kelly on Friday’s _The Kelly File_, airing on Fox News at 9 p.m. ET. “This is something we chose to do, nobody asked us to do this,” adds Jessa in transcript excerpts released to PEOPLE of their first time speaking out since police reports revealed that the eldest of the expansive [Duggar](http://www.duggarfamily.com/) clan was [investigated in 2006](http://www.people.com/article/josh-duggar-molestation-accusations-duggars-respond) for molesting five underage girls as a teen. [A portion of their interview with Kelly aired Wednesday](http://www.people.com/article/jill-jessa-duggar-interview-molestation-brother-josh-fox-news-we-are-victims), where they admitted to being two of Josh’s victims but that they wanted to “set the record straight.” “Josh was a boy, a young boy in puberty and a little too curious about girls,” says Jessa. “And that got him into some trouble. And he made some bad choices, but, really, the extent of it was mild – inappropriate touching on fully clothed victims, most of it while \[the\] girls were sleeping.” Jill, 24, adds that they “didn’t even know” about the molestation until Josh had confessed to their parents. “None of the victims were aware of what happened until Joshua confessed,” Jessa agrees, adding, “My parents took \[us\] aside individually, and they said, ‘Here’s what happened,’ and of course at this point, you’re shocked.” [Read the full transcript at People](http://www.people.com/article/jill-duggar-jessa-duggar-josh-duggar-not-pedophile-fox-news-megyn-kelly-interview) _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/jill-duggar-jessa-duggar-josh-duggar-not-pedophile-fox-news-megyn-kelly-interview) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3911150/josh-duggar-jessa-jill-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3911150/josh-duggar-jessa-jill-interview/"},"headline":"Duggar Sisters Speak Out in Defense of Josh","datePublished":"2015-06-05T19:08:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:58:02.056Z","description":"They say their brother was \"a little too curious about girls\"","url":"https://time.com/3911150/josh-duggar-jessa-jill-interview/","keywords":["celebrities","Television","tlc","19 Kids and Counting","josh duggar"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b7694af7a3ae0da/6988514b55a859bc2ca8c23c/josh-duggar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amanda Michelle Steiner / People"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b7694af7a3ae0da/6988514b55a859bc2ca8c23c/josh-duggar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"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. on Aug. 29, 2014.","caption":"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. on Aug. 29, 2014.","creditText":"Danny Johnston—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3911150/josh-duggar-jessa-jill-interview/","name":"Duggar Sisters Speak Out in Defense of Josh"}}]}] ```