Jinger Duggar Says Brother Josh – Who Admitted To Molesting Sisters As Teen – Never ‘Truly Changed’

We never thought we’d say this, but… preach, Jinger Duggar!

The 19 Kids And Counting alum is promoting her new memoir Becoming Free Indeed, available at bookstores now, and a big part of her press tour has — unfortunately for her — been answering questions about her brother.

In one of the most horrifying celebrity scandals we’ve ever covered, Josh Duggar was convicted of possession of child porn back in December 2021. Considering the shocking headlines, it’s natural for folks to have questions for Jinger. But we’d actually argue it’s pretty apt considering her book’s subject matter. She’s telling the story of being raised in a family that used fear to subjugate its girls. And the idea that their silence also made them complicit in Josh’s continued wrongdoing is all a part of the same story.

Related: Jinger Calls Josh A ‘Hypocrite’ In Furious First Statement On Child Porn Conviction

For those who don’t know, Josh admitted to molesting his younger sisters when he was a teenager. That news came out years later, in 2015, when a police report was unearthed about it. It turned out patriarch Jim Bob Duggar had kept the whole thing quiet, possibly even using his political connections to bury the police report for years. Josh got an old-fashioned talking-to. And that was it. No rehabilitation, no treatment, nothing official. At Josh’s trial family friends also testified Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar knew about Josh molesting their daughters, too — one as young as 4. That was kept quiet for nearly two decades.

So years later when he’s busted downloading the most heinous child torture porn in the world it’s absolutely fair to tie that to his parents’ handling of the earlier transgression. He got away with it. So he kept going.

When speaking about her brother’s horrible scandal on The Tamron Hall Show on Tuesday, Jinger also made that connection — pointing out the façade of faith that the Duggars used to keep themselves out of trouble wasn’t real, not considering what was going on in secret. She explained:

“I think that part of this story that I’m telling is you can’t put up all of these outward standards and rules and say that’s going to do anything. It’s not. Your heart has to be changed from the inside out and only Jesus can truly change that.”

She said her brother hadn’t changed in all those years — meaning he never really accepted responsibility or showed true remorse:

“That’s not something I saw in my brother. He’s not truly changed. So until God does that, it’s only what God can do.”

Wow.

Jinger, who has distanced herself from the family as a whole — moreso now that ever with her new book — said she hasn’t spoken to her brother “in years.” Something tells us she felt even before he was exposed that his heart hadn’t changed since those times molesting those little girls.

Related: Josh’s Neighbors Say ‘He’s Belonged In Prison For A Long Time’

She does still pray for him, she told Tamron:

“I just would pray that he would be truly broken over what he has done. So I just pray for the victims and their families.”

He can’t change until he really feels that remorse, right? Wise words from the former reality star.

See Jinger’s “difficult” full interview segment with Tamron (below):

[Image via Tamron Hall/TLC/YouTube.]