TLC announced Thursday morning that it was canceling 19 Kids and Counting, a reality TV show that featured the Jim Bob Duggar family of Springdale.
The cable program was suspended by the network May 22, after media reports that 27-year-old Josh Duggar admitted fondling five girls about a dozen years earlier. Josh Duggar is the oldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, who with their 19 children starred in the series that chronicled their lives.
"After thoughtful consideration, TLC and the Duggar family have decided to not move forward with 19 Kids and Counting," TLC announced in a statement. "The show will no longer appear on the air."
TLC also stated Thursday that it was partnering with two advocacy organizations to educate families about child sexual abuse. The network is working with the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network and Darkness to Light -- along with the Duggar family -- in creating a one-hour, commercial-free documentary that will air later this summer.
In Touch Weekly magazine reported May 21 that Josh Duggar had been the subject of a criminal investigation in 2006 involving actions in 2002 and 2003. He resigned as a lobbyist for the conservative Family Research Council after the report appeared.
In March 2002, then-14-year-old Josh Duggar told his parents that he had run his hands over young girls in the Duggar household as they slept, his parents said in a June 3 Fox News interview with Megyn Kelly. Josh Duggar was disciplined and precautions were taken, his parents said, but they didn't seek outside assistance for him or his victims.
Josh Duggar then admitted to his parents in July 2002 that he took similar advantage of girls who had fallen asleep on the family couch and was again punished, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar told Fox News. The Duggars said they sought outside help after a third admission in March 2003 by Josh Duggar that he touched two girls while they were awake. Josh Duggar was then sent to Little Rock for four months.
The Springdale Police Department began an investigation in 2006, after an anonymous tip was forwarded to state authorities. The investigation concluded that the statute of limitations had passed for any applicable charges.
Duggar sisters Jill Dillard, 24, and Jessa Seewald, 22, appeared on Fox News' The Kelly File on June 5 and acknowledged that they were inappropriately touched by their brother. But the two sisters said the problem had been taken care of years ago, and Josh Duggar had been forgiven and is a changed person.
Two of the other girls fondled by Josh Duggar as a teen were also his sisters, the Duggars told Fox News. The fifth victim was a family friend.
"With God's grace and help, Josh, our daughters and our entire family overcame a terrible situation, found healing and a way forward," the Duggar family said in a statement released Thursday.
"It is our prayer that the painful situation our family went through many years ago can point people toward faith in God and help others who also have lived through similar dark situations to find help, hope and healing as well.
"We look forward to working with TLC on this upcoming special documentary and hope that it is an encouragement to many."
Shannon Llanes, senior director of publicity for TLC parent company Discovery Communications, said neither the network nor the family had any further comment beyond their statements.
The show 19 Kids and Counting started in September 2008 and lasted for 10 seasons. A two-hour special that aired May 5 drew nearly 3 million viewers, according to the media research firm Nielsen.
The series' final episode, which aired May 19, drew about 1.7 million viewers.
Information for this article was contributed by Ron Wood of the NWA Democrat-Gazette.
State Desk on 07/17/2015