Jill Duggar Dillard: My Father Treated ‘My Pedophile Brother’ Better Than Me
Jill Duggar Dillard opens up about her dispute with her parents in a new book, claiming her father treats her worse than her brother, Josh, who is serving 12.5 years in prison for possessing child pornography.
Dillard’s new book, Counting the Cost, talks about her experience on the TLC reality TV show 19 Kids and Counting and her life since then with her husband, Derick Dillard. The book was released on Sept. 12.
In an excerpt published by People, Jill Duggar Dillard writes about a conversation she and her husband had with her father and mother, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, monitored by a mediator. Jim Bob and Michelle were upset about a letter Jill and Derick had sent and a text message Jill had written.
Her father, she said, wanted her to apologize for the letter. Her mother believed the letter was “disrespectful,” she wrote.
“‘You’re guilty!’ Pops was yelling, stabbing a finger at me, standing right over me. Mom started crying. Derick tried to speak, but I pulled him back. ‘You want to know why I’m crying?’ My voice was cracked, my eyes burning. ‘It’s that you think I’m some kind of horrible person just because I wear pants and have a nose ring, and yet you see that girl outside and praise her. That’s why I’m crying, Daddy. I’m evolving and changing, just like that girl out there, but you can’t see it. You treat me like I’m a prodigal who’s turned her back on you. You treat me worse than you treat my pedophile brother.'”
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar released a statement to People.
“We love all of our children very much,” the statement said. “As with any family, few things are more painful than conflicts or problems among those you love. … We do not believe the best way to resolve conflicts, facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation, or to communicate through difficulties is through the media or in a public forum so we will not comment.”
Related:
Jill Duggar Dillard Talks Controversial Religious Upbringing, Sex Abuse in New Docuseries
Jinger Duggar Vuolo Shares Why She Didn’t Appear in Shiny Happy People Docuseries
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Brendan Hoffman/Stringer
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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