UNITED STATES
Raw Story
TOM BOGGIONI
19 FEB 2016
In exclusive interviews with the New York Daily News, survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of a Duggar family pastor detail how the Christian leader recruited them from their parents and preyed upon rape victims who came to him seeking help.
Bill Gothard, 81, who previously ran the Institute in Basic Life Principles which heavily influenced the lifestyle of the Christian reality show Duggar family, is currently the subject of a lawsuit filed in Illinois by eight women against board members of the IBLP and Gothard. It was an IBLP center that Josh Duggar was sent to for treatment after he was caught molesting his sisters.
According to Joy Simmons and Jennifer Spurlock, they were abused by Gothard after they were shipped off to stay with him following sexual assaults by other men affiliated with his ministry.
“To have your education ripped from you and to have your childhood ripped from you, it’s extremely difficult. It’s just evil,” said Spurlock, who was 15 when she began working for and traveling with Gothard, who kept her from attending school.
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