Bill Gothard, a Christian minister with ties to reality TV stars the Duggar family, was slapped with a lawsuit brought forward by 10 women who accused him of sexual assault and rape, reported the Washington Post. Gothard, who is an Illinois-based conservative leader and homeschooling advocate, has denied the allegations.
Gothard was a leader of the Christian homeschooling movement that pushed modest dress codes for women, promoted large families and shunned rock music. He founded the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) in 1961, which is an organization of training centers that provide religious guidance for families and youths, but stepped down in 2014 after he was accused of sexual harassment against women and for failing to report child abuse cases, reported the Huffington Post.
The 81-year-old also has ties to the controversial Duggar family, who starred in TLC's reality TV series "19 Kids and Counting." After the family's oldest son Josh confessed to molesting five young girls (including his sisters Jessa and Jill) in 2003, he was sent to a faith-training facility owned by Gothard's IBLP and enrolled in the Integrity Construction Institute program to be "cleansed by a godly mentor," as previously reported by HNGN.
Now, 10 alleged victims have come forward and accused Gothard of sexual harassment, molestation and rape with women he worked with at the IBLP, some of whom were minors sent to his training center for religious guidance, according to the Washington Post. One Jane Doe plaintiff alleged that she was raped by Gothard when she was about 17 or 18 years old.
Gothard responded to the allegations in a telephone interview Wednesday. "Oh, no. Never never. Oh! That's horrible," he told the Washington Post. "Never in my life have I touched a girl sexually. I'm shocked to even hear that."
