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Back in March, authorities arrested Joseph Duggar.
He allegedly molested a 9-year-old girl. She told her father, and he told authorities.
The disgraced former reality star reportedly confessed twice, though he is currently fighting the charges.
Joy-Anna is expressing how raw this makes her feel. But she also talks too much about that, and too little about the child at the center of this case.
‘The hardest time I’ve ever gone through’
On the Wednesday, May 27 episode of The Jinger & Jeremy podcast, it was just Jinger and Joy-Anna.
During the broadcast, the 28-year-old opened up to her big sister about the ugly business with Joseph.
“I feel like every day is different,” Joy began.
“And,” she continued, “I think that it’s probably been the hardest time I’ve ever gone through.”
Coming from someone who grew up in an abusive cult, that sounds like a tall order.
“I think we’re all grieving in different ways,” Joy then opined.
“Every day just feels so heavy,” she expressed.
“And,” Joy-Anna observed, “I definitely think as time goes on, certain things that have gotten lighter.”
She confided in Jinger — and in thousands of viewers — that lighter doesn’t mean better. Not all of the way.
“But I’ve really been struggling, honestly,” Joy shared.
‘It’s already impacted my family so much’
According to Joy, her Christian beliefs have given her a sense of peace even when her family is in turmoil.
However, she is hesitant to make certain public comments — like directly and wholly condemning Joseph, for example — while so much seems to be up in the air.
“It’s already impacted my family so much,” Joy-Anna commented.
“I feel like the more I talk about it publicly, the more it just gets rubbed in our faces,” she explained.
“And,” Joy expressed, “I want to just move on with life in some ways.”
Of course, Joseph’s accuser likely cannot “move on.” She was only nine years old when he allegedly molested her repeatedly during a family vacation.
For all that people talk about the resilience of children, they have fewer coping mechanisms to deal with trauma.
Numerous commenters called out Joy-Anna. Some mentioned that she appears to be using spiritual bypass to compartmentalize her brother’s alleged crimes — among other things.
Joy has every right to talk about how having one brother behind bars and another facing prosecution on a not-unrelated crime impacts her.
But a lot of commenters across social media would like to see her recenter her concern upon the child in question. All else is secondary.
