What It Felt Like For Other Duggar Family Members To Learn About Josh Duggar’s Arrest On Child Pornography Charges

Josh Duggar video footage speaking for Christianity.

It’s been a few days since Josh Duggar was arrested by federal agents, booked into a detention center and was later released on bail to a third party. His famous family has not been exactly quiet in the aftermath, though most of his siblings who have spoken out have been succinct. Now, however, Jeremy Vuolo, husband of Jinger Vuolo, has spoken about about their reaction after learning of Josh’s arrest.

Jeremy and Jinger Vuolo likely thought this month would be filled with the two promoting their new book The Hope We Hold, about the couple and how they see their religious interpretations differently than patriarch Jim Bob Duggar, mother Michelle and some other family members. They’re still out promoting the book, but in an interview with Today they also touched on their feelings related Josh Duggar’s recent arrest.

Nothing can prepare someone to receive news like that. Like everyone else, we are absolutely horrified, and want to see justice carried out. And we just want to say that we are grateful for the authorities who work tirelessly to end child abuse here and around the world. We’re praying for all of the victims in this situation — really, we’re praying for everyone who is involved.

When it comes to what’s happening with Josh, their faith certainly seems to be involved. Interestingly, the new book The Hope We Hold also touches on the other allegations of molestation that have been tied to Josh Duggar and how the family left Arkansas in the middle of the night to take some time off as a family after the police report tying the Duggar brother to molestation accusations came out.

Previously, two of Josh Duggar’s sister, Jill Duggar Dillard and Jessa Duggar Seewald, had named themselves two of the girls Duggar had reportedly molested while still a teenager. Both Jessa and Jill also previously made statements on Megyn Kelly’s show The Kelly File explaining their feelings on what happened long ago and how they had felt when the news made public rounds.

As for Duggar’s more recent arrest, both Jessa and Jill have also spoken out, their statements being more succinct that the Vuolo family's. Jill Duggar Dillard and Derick Dillard, who have been a bit more estranged from the rest of the Duggar family in recent months, simply told Us Weekly they’d recently heard the news, saying, “It is very sad.”

For her part, Jessa Duggar Seewald and husband Ben Seewald both posted a message to their Instagram Stories that is a little closer to the feelings Jeremy Vuolo shared. They also mentioned their faith and prayers:

We are saddened to hear of the charges against Josh. As Christians, we stand against any form of pornography or abuse and we desire for the truth to be exposed, whatever that may be. Our prayers are with their family as they walk through this difficult time

19 Kids and Counting was canceled following the string of Josh Duggar scandals, including the husband and father of six (soon to be seven) getting caught on Ashley Madison, a dating site for cheaters. A second series, Counting On, was later commissioned by TLC without Josh Duggar’s involvement. In the time since, Josh Duggar went on to run a car dealership, which is the location child pornography was reportedly found on his computer. Duggar was arrested at his workplace on April 29th on one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.