"19 Kids and Counting" stars Jessa Seewald and Jill Dillard briefly opened up about the allegations that their brother, Josh Duggar, had molested five underage girls, including four of his sisters, as a young teen.
In a clip from an upcoming interview with Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly, the sisters identified themselves as two of of the underage girls Josh had molested. They also revealed they were devastated to discover the incident had been made public after In Touch Magazine published a report detailing the incidents earlier in May.
"They don't have a right to do this...we are victims, they can't do this to us," Jill, 24, told Kelly while wiping away tears.
Although Josh, now 27, admitted to the crime, he was not convicted because it passed the statute of limitations in Arkansas. However, he has since resigned from his position with the Family Research Council, a Christian Conservative lobbying organization founded by Pastor James Dobson in 1981 and apologized for his "inexcusable" actions.
In the interview, Jessa, 22, emphasized that while that what Josh did was "very wrong," she wanted to defend him from people who call him a child molester, pedophile or rapist. "I'm like, that is so overboard and a lie really," she said. "I mean, people get mad at me for saying that but I can say this because I was one of the victims."
Jessa went on to slam the illegal leaking of Josh's juvenile police file, stating, "The system that was set up to protect kids, both those who make stupid mistakes or have problems like this in their life and the ones that are affected by those choices. It's greatly failed."
The sister's upcoming interview, which will take place on Friday, comes just after their parents, Jim Bob and Michelle addressed the scandal.
On Wednesday, the Duggar parents explained to Megyn Kelly that while their son "violated God's principles," in inappropriately touching underage girls, they felt they "did the best we could under the circumstances."
"He was still a kid. He was still a juvenile. He wasn't an adult," Jim Bob explained. "This was not rape or anything like that. This was touching someone over their clothes."
The interview on Fox News, which was pretaped at the Duggars' home in Arkansas, aired roughly two weeks after TLC said it was withdrawing the Duggars' reality show, "19 Kids and Counting," from its lineup. At least 20 companies have also distanced themselves from the program, and many, including Walgreens, General Mills and Pizza Hut, have taken their ads off the show.
The sisters will be speaking more in a one-hour special of The Kelly File airing Friday at 9 p.m. ET on Fox News.
