An Alberta home-schooling association is standing by its decision to have Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar speak at its upcoming annual convention.Scott Enlow/The Associated Press
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar – the former reality television stars whose son Josh molested underage girls, including four of his sisters, when he was a teenager – will deliver a keynote address at a conference for people who home school their children in Alberta.
The Alberta Home Education Association, an organization rooted in religion, in a recent statement said it considered the "controversy" around Josh Duggar, but will not rescind its invitation to the Duggars to speak at its April, 2016, convention in Red Deer.
The conservative Duggars starred in 19 Kids & Counting, a show the U.S. television network TLC cancelled after a report Josh Duggar had been investigated for molesting young girls. Mr. and Mrs. Duggar said, in an interview with Fox News Channel this spring, that Josh, their eldest son, was a juvenile when he molested his victims. He is now in his late 20s. The AHEA said its members were "almost unanimous" in support of the Christian family.
"The controversy surrounding actions taken by Josh Duggar is really 'old news.' The events happened more than a decade ago and were dealt with legally and morally at that time," the organization said in its statement. "AHEA does not condone Josh's behavior but wishes to follow the example of the victims in this situation who have expressed a desire to 'forgive and forget.'"
The AHEA "tries to choose speakers who have been through difficult times and learned from them, who have made mistakes in parenting and can share their experiences, who have been 'in the trenches' of home education and have persevered," the statement said.
The organization announced at its 2015 convention in April that the Duggars would speak the next year. In Touch magazine reported in May that Josh had molested young girls as a teenager.
Paul van den Bosch, AHEA's president, said his organization reached a contract with the Duggars two years ago. After the controversy, the Alberta group asked them to address how parents should react when their children make mistakes.
"I'm not saying the Duggars have been the best role models, but I would say that we've asked them to speak about what they've gone through, what they've learned since then," Mr. van den Bosch said. "But we also want to make sure our members know what to look for and how to protect themselves and their kids."
The Alberta government does not fund the AHEA, said Jeremy Nolais, a spokesman for the Minister of Education. He would not comment on whether the AHEA's invitation to the Duggars is appropriate. "It is not really our place to be taking a position on an organization that we have no affiliation with funding-wise," he said.
The AHEA supports home educators and interacts with government to "protect the responsibilities of parents," according to its website.
"AHEA values the supremacy of God," its website says. "AHEA values parents as having the God-given right and responsibility to direct the education of their children."
Jim Bob Duggar, in the interview with Fox News, defended his son. "This was not rape or anything like that. This was touching someone over their clothes." Sandra Jansen, a Progressive Conservative MLA, said the Duggars would do little to inspire an audience.
"The Duggars handling of their son's sexual abuse of his sisters was, sadly, unhelpful in terms of setting an example," she said.
Carrie Tait