From the "In Touch Weekly" website:
....... in July, 2002 Josh admitted to fondling a minor’s breasts while she slept...
....The family did not alert authorities.
....about nine months later in March, 2003 “there was another incident.” ... Jim Bob then “met with the elders of his church and told them what was going on.” No one alerted the police or any other law enforcement agency. Instead they decided to send Josh to a “program [that] consisted of hard physical work and counseling....
[After finally being notified, police investigated Josh Duggar] for multiple sex offenses — including forcible fondling — against five minors. Some of the alleged offenses investigated were felonies....
The Duggars told police that..., “a family friend aware of what had happened had written down in a letter what he knew… another person discovered the letter.....The Duggars refused to tell police who wrote the letter and who found it.
From Mike Huckabee's defense of how the Duggar case was handled:
He and his family dealt with it and were honest and open about it with ... the authorities.
Mike Huckabee has an interesting definition of "
honesty and openness with authorities":
..... in 2003, Jim Bob... took Josh to [his friend] Arkansas State Trooper, Jim Hutchens. ....Hutchens did not take any official action and instead gave Josh a “very stern talk.” .... Hutchens is now serving 56-years in prison for child pornography....
When police asked Jim Bob to bring Josh in for an interview in 2006, he attempted to hire a lawyer and refused to produce his son for questioning. ... “Det. Hignite received a voice mail from Mr. Duggar stating that [redacted] had hired an attorney and would not be coming in for an interview.”....Police had to abandon pursuing charges because the [then] three-year statute of limitations had expired.
So we have a case where Josh Duggar committed serious crimes that will psychologically scar his victims for life.
According to Mike Huckabee, the issue is closed because:
....being a minor means that one's judgement is not mature.
Now, let us compare the handling of Josh Duggar's "immature judgement", to the handling of Tamir Rice's "immature judgement":
when Tamir failed to put an orange safety cap on his TOY GUN.
Cleveland police charged 12-year-old Tamir Rice with “aggravated menacing” and “inducing panic”.
Because he demonstrated "immature judgement", by sexually abusing his siblings, 14 year old Josh Duggar was punished with four months of "hard physical work and counseling".
Because he demonstrated "immature judgement", by failing to put an orange safety cap on his toy gun, Tamir Rice was shot to death, then charged with “aggravated menacing” and “inducing panic”.
I hope someone asks Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee to explain this discrepancy. I also hope they ask him to explain why Jim Bob and his Church weren't investigated for what appears to be "obstruction of justice".