Five women suing Duggars' homeschooling cult for covering up sexual assaults

Bill Gothard was once the revered head of the Institute in Basic Life Principals (IBLP). They're big leaders in the Christian homeschooling movement that the Duggars family brought with them to television. Bill Gothard is now the former, disgraced leader of the IBLP because for 30 years he allegedly was sexually inappropriate with the younger ladies of his flock. Over 30 women have come forward with claims of inappropriate behavior. Gothard has narcissistically tried to explain himself here. Well, the Institute in Basic Life Principals just got a reminder of how bad it is to have a possible sexual predator running your organization for 30 years—lawsuits:

Five women have sued the Institute in Basic Life Principles, once a leader in the Christian homeschooling movement, charging that the organization and its board of directors enabled and covered up sexual abuse and harassment of interns, employees, and other participants in its programs.

Each of the plaintiffs — Gretchen Wilkinson, Charis Barker, Rachel Frost, Rachel Lees and a Jane Doe — seeks $50,000 in damages, alleging that the organization and its board acted negligently, with willful and wanton disregard for them, and engaged in a civil conspiracy to conceal the wrongdoing.

It's not just the grotesque behavior of the saintly Gothard—the Duggars famously sent their sexually abusive son Josh to IBLP in the hopes of ridding Josh of that demon of abuse. Why this lawsuit now?

David Gibbs III, the attorney representing the women, said in an interview the women decided to litigate only after unsuccessful efforts to address the issues with the IBLP board of directors, who are also named in the lawsuit. Gibbs added that his clients did not want to sue, but that the board “rather stubbornly and in my opinion rather arrogantly basically challenged the girls to bring the case.”

The board, he said, “is not operating in a spirit of transparency or openness,” and has not discussed the allegations with the victims.

Hopefully these women, and the many others that this religious organization failed, get some solace from forcing the IBLP to acknowledge their sins.