In the wake of the Josh Duggar molestation scandal, just about every media outlet in America has offered its two cents on the shocking news.
As for the family at the heart of the controversy – the Duggars have issued brief statements, but have remained mostly silent in weeks since the world first learned that Josh was accused of molesting his sisters while he was still in his teens.
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar will sit for an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on Wednesday to give their side of the story, but in the meantime residents of Tontitown, Arkansas are having their say – and many of them have no kind words for the family that put their small town on the map.
A recent People magazine piece gave the Duggars’ neighbors a chance to speak out on the scandal that’s rocked rural Washington County, and while some reserved judgment, others made their strong feelings perfectly clear:
"I think he should rot in hell!" said one "young mother" who declined to give her name.
Carolyn Trammell, who lives just two doors down from the Duggar compound, was more subtle in her criticism, describing the 19 Kids and Counting clan as "a nice family but a little different."
"They’re homeschooled and they don’t get out among other children," Trammell said. "[Neighbors] are concerned that the children don’t get the attention and opportunities they should have gotten…Michelle is having one baby after another. Who’s teaching them?"
A 21-year-old "local businessman" says he "never noticed anything amiss" with the family, but takes issue with Josh’s apparent hypocrisy in slamming the supposed lack of values in the LGBT community.
"I think he should be more sympathetic toward other people’s rights knowing he had made mistakes in the past," the man told People.
All-in-all, the people of Tontitown appear to be split with regard to their opinions on the family, but they all seem to agree that the Josh situation was badly mishandled long ago, and that the Duggars have a long way to go if they hope to win back the trust of their fans.