Jinger Duggar Makes Rare Comment About Disgraced Brother Josh Duggar’s ‘Bad Decisions’
Counting On alum Jinger Vuolo (née Duggar) has made a rare, candid comment about her disgraced older brother, Josh Duggar, and the severe impact his “bad decisions” had on her life. Her reflection comes as the former TLC star continues to serve a 12.5-year federal prison sentence following his conviction on child pornography charges. The 31-year-old mother of three opened up about how Josh, 36, inadvertently played a pivotal role in changing her formerly strict Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) beliefs during an appearance on the podcast “The Deep End With Lecrae.”
Breaking Free From a “Prophet”
Speaking with host Lecrae Moore, Jinger detailed the high-control environment she grew up in under the teachings of IBLP leader Bill Gothard, whom her family viewed with absolute authority.
“We held to this teacher as a prophet sent from God,” Jinger explained. “So the girls wear skirts only, not listen to any music with drums—if you turn on music with drums, you’re calling demons.”
As she grew older and found herself thrust into increasingly difficult public situations, Jinger began to deeply question the rigid legalism of her childhood. The true catalyst for her spiritual shift, however, was the public unravelling of her oldest brother.
“You kind of step back and say, ‘Okay what things do matter?’ It was not until later on when we were walking through a lot of difficulties publicly, one of my brothers made decisions that were very bad and that landed him in prison,” Jinger recounted. “In that time, I realized people are looking at this as Christianity, but this is not what the gospel is about. Somebody needs to speak up.”
Inside Josh Duggar’s Ongoing Sentence
Jinger’s public statements regarding Josh are exceedingly rare. He has been behind bars since his initial April 2021 arrest by Homeland Security. According to the original press release shared by the United States Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Arkansas, Duggar was found to have possessed material depicting the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12 back in May 2019. Federal prosecutors originally fought for a maximum 20-year prison sentence, citing his “prior sexual exploitation of multiple minors” and the “extraordinary efforts” he took to install hidden software to download and conceal the illicit material. Following a highly publicized nine-day trial, the former 19 Kids and Counting star was found guilty in December 2021.
Prison Life and Rule Violations
Josh is currently serving out his remaining time at the low-security federal correctional institution, FCI Seagoville, near Dallas, Texas. While he was spotted by photographers exercising in the prison yard with a new mustache, his time behind bars has been anything but smooth. After initially losing his privileges and being sent to the facility’s Special Housing Unit (SHU) for the phone infraction, family insiders have recently claimed that Josh was placed back into solitary confinement over fresh prison rule violations, resulting in a loss of good behavior credits.
With his supreme court appeals entirely exhausted and his sisters like Jinger continuing to publicly distance their faith from his actions, Josh remains isolated from the modern platform his family once held. Do you think Jinger’s willingness to speak out will encourage more Duggar siblings to publicly address the family’s past?
