Years after Josh Duggar was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison, the 19 Kids and Counting alum’s cousin, Amy Duggar King, recalls how she first confronted him about his abusive behavior towards his sisters.
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While promoting her upcoming memoir, Holy Disruptor, Duggar King spoke to PEOPLE about when her cousin first made headlines for molesting five female victims between 2002 and 2003. Four of whom included his then-underaged sisters. The fifth victim was a family babysitter.
Although Josh admitted to the behavior, he was never charged for the acts. He was later arrested and found guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography.
Amy Duggar King then opened up about how she approached Josh about the accusations. After asking him why he didn’t hurt her, she said he “knew better” than to attempt anything with her.
“It was the creepiest smile,” she said. “In that moment, I just looked at him, and I was just like, ‘I don’t know you at all.'”
Duggar King, who had grown up wth Josh and his siblings, said details about the situation were “gut-wrenching” for her.
“It’s that realization that all the times he’s texted, and laughed, and we’ve sent memes to each other, and he called, and we had double dates, and all the things,” she continued. “I’m like, ‘I don’t know you at all.'”
Duggar King called the situation “very sad and terrifying.” However, she wanted to confront him about it.
“I was going over there with a mission,” she recalled. “I wasn’t getting any answers, and I’m not one of these to back down.”
Amy Duggar King Contacted Josh’s Fifth Victim So She Wouldn’t “Blindside Her” About Sharing Details in Her New Memoir
Amy Duggar King said she contacted Josh’s fifth victim to ensure she wouldn’t “blindside her” about the things she wrote.
“I was like, ‘I just want to honor your story, and I want people to know that I respect you,'” she recalled. “I even told her, ‘If you don’t want me ot write about anything in the book or put you even in there as a fifth victim, I’m okay with that too.'”
Duggar King admitted to having a “tiny bit of grace” for Josh.
“Just because I know that if you have a problem with something, and you go and ask your parents and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this issue. I need to talk to someone about it.’ And you’re trying to reach out to get help,” she said. “You’re trying to change, you’re trying to figure out where is that coming from, and all that, and then it kind of gets pushed aside, or not really dealt with.”
Duggar King further pointed out, “But more of like, ‘Hey, okay, we’re going to send you here and just get you out of the house, and they’ll talk to you there as you build houses,’ or whatever. That’s not true help. That’s not true therapy.”
Regarding her upcoming memoir, Duggar King said the entire book will “drop jaws.”
“No one knows the things that I was struggling with,” she added. “Writing [this book] was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do. I pushed myself to my limits. I cried all the time writing it, but I just wanted to be brave and tell the truth.”
Holy Disruptor will be released on Oct. 14.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.