Man In Same Church As The Duggars Details Alleged Abuse At The Hands Of Its Leaders

The Duggar family is known to the world for having 19 children and being part of the TLC series 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On for the past several years. The family was introduced to the world at large in a special called 14 Kids and Pregnant Again! which aired on TLC at that time.

The Duggar family identifies themselves as Independent Baptists, and have been famous for their strict religious beliefs. The family is known to follow the teachings of Bill Gothard, who has been ousted after at least 18 women came forward to state they had been inappropriately touched.

The TLC golden family, however, is not immune to issues in itself, as in 2015, it was discovered that Josh Duggar, the eldest of the family, had molested four of his younger siblings and one anonymous family friend.

The family still follows the teachings of the Institute of Basic Life Principles, which is what the Duggar family had based their homeschooling education on. And now, one anonymous man has come forward to discuss the abuse he allegedly endured as part of IBLP, the shorthand for the Institute.

The individual states that his family operated in a strict hierarchical order, and that because he fended off his father’s sexual advances at a young age, he was labeled a troubled child.

The author also states that he was sent off to a correctional institute at the age of 13, where he lived for two years. His mother essentially signed custody of him over to those who ran the program.

He spoke of some of the abuses he claims to have endured at their hands.

“I am worked grueling hours, sent on aimless hikes and marches, scrubbing floors on my hands and knees until my knuckles are cracked and bleeding from the bleach, punished with hard labor until I’m near fainting. They had fun coming up with new and strange ‘punishments’ (this implies that it is deserved, when in fact they are instructed specifically to break their students’ will whatever it takes).

“One was a forced vow of silence: You were told never to speak for days or weeks on end – if you do, you are punished further. I was given tasks designed to fail (for example, extremely short time limits on difficult tasks) in order to be punished and humiliated. I was forced to grovel and confess humiliating sins (existent and non) in front of the 30-or-so members in the compound.”

The author also stated that he was given chemically treated water in order to make his throat burn, in addition to being given spoiled and undercooked food. He details that during his time in the compound, he lost 40 lbs.

The Duggar family has been highly criticized for using the IBLP curriculum as part of their homeschool, which has Bible quotes blaming victims for sexual abuse within the family. They were also criticized for forgiving their eldest son, Josh, and allowing him back into the fold after abusing their younger daughters.

It is rumored that the Duggar family has punished their children in cruel ways and sent them away to biblical IBLP camps for re-education, but there is no concrete proof. However, many who know about the IBLP and its teaching insist that those who raise their kids within it are raising their kids in a cult, which is partly why the Duggar family has experienced so much criticism and “hate” in the past several years.

[Featured Image by The Duggar Family/Instagram]