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Josh Duggar: 'I've been the biggest hypocrite ever'

Wonderwall 8/20/2015 By Mark Gray

Josh Duggar: 'I've been the biggest hypocrite ever'

"I have been the biggest hypocrite ever." Those are the words of Josh Duggar, who, on Thursday, admitted that he was a member of a website whose sole purpose is to facilitate spouses cheating on their significant others.

The admission comes a day after hackers released information about members of the cheating website AshleyMadison.com. Josh had multiple accounts.

"I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife," he said in a lengthy statement on the Duggar family's website, a statement that was revised an hour after it was released.

"I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family, and most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him. I brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and the fans of our show with my actions that happened when I was 14-15 years old, and now I have re-broken their trust."

He continued, "The last few years, while publicly stating I was fighting against immorality in our country, in my heart I had allowed Satan to build a fortress that no one knew about. As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose to our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences. I deeply regret all hurt I have caused so many by being such a bad example."

"I humbly ask for your forgiveness. Please pray for my precious wife Anna and our family during this time," he said.

This latest unsavory news pertaining to Josh comes just a few months after it was revealed that he molested five girls as a teenager -- including two of his sisters.

The Duggars ‘felt people would understand' Josh Duggar's ‘actions': Jill and Jessa Duggar appear on the cover of the new issue of People in a story headlined, "Life after scandal." Inside, the magazine looks at the fallout from revelations that Josh Duggar molested multiple young girls, including his sisters, Jill and Jessa, when he was a teenager. "They are still stunned that this is how it has all gone down. I think they are still trying to absorb the fact that their life has so radically changed," says a work source close to Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, who, like the rest of the family, have publicly announced they forgive their son for his actions. The source went on to say the couple "truly felt people would understand and eventually be OK with it," adding that the press focus on Josh lately has created new tensions. "Jim Bob and Michelle love their son, and they love when they can spend time with his family," says the insider. "But every time they're photographed with him, a story gets made out of it that rehashes the whole mess – and it's painful for everyone."

Duggar Family's highs and lows

Bob and Michelle Duggar, who are deeply religious, also weighed in on the latest scandal, saying, "When we learned of this late last night our hearts were broken. As we continue to place our trust in God we ask for your prayers for Josh, Anna, our grandchildren and our entire family."

Oddly, an hour after the family released Josh's statement, they revised it, taking out the admission that Josh has a pornography addiction. The new statement simply read: "I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have been unfaithful to my wife." A mention of the previous molestations was also edited out.

This newest scandal has the family reeling. A source told People magazine, "We're all hunkered down over here. It's just a mess, it's a whole mess. We don't even know what the truth is anymore. It's insane." About Josh, a second source close to the family later said, "I would assume he feels like his life is ruined. It will be such a steep and practically impossible climb to come back from this."

"It's like he's a completely different person from who they thought he was," says the source. "They're still trying to reconcile all that they know is good about Josh, whom they will always love and adore, with what they've learned now."

Anna Duggar, Josh's wife, also has to figure out who Josh is. But, the magazine reports that she's likely willing to stick around and do just that.

"Anna will not leave him," the familiy source said. "As with her in-laws, she is turning more to her faith than ever, she and Josh are probably praying around the clock right now, I would assume."

Anna, the source said, may even try "on some level" to "absorb some of the blame."

"Maybe not publicly, ever, but privately, there will be some suggestion of whether or not she should have been more aware of the pressures Josh was under, of the issues he was facing, and how she could have better counseled him or helped him," says the source. "She is fully and permanently committed to her marriage and her children. And she'll have the support of Jim Bob and Michelle and everyone else in their circle in terms of staying with him and making this work. Divorce is not even something that will be discussed."