Russell GravesIn Jep Robertson's new book—The Good, the Bad, and the Grace of God: What Honesty and Pain Taught Us About Faith, Family, and Forgiveness—the Duck Dynasty star reveals that as a child, he was molested by an older female student.
"I was 6 and it was on a school bus and it was an older girl," Jep, 37, told Entertainment Tonight. "Back then the high school students would ride on the same bus as the grade school. There was this girl there that was just real mean...I don't know, but it was a lot of things took place—scary stuff. It was tough."
In the book, co-written with wife Jessica Robertson, Jep writes about his experience: "An older girl started sitting next to me. She seemed sweet at first. She'd come sit beside me, like a motherly figure almost. I remember her being sweet and taking care of me. I liked to sit in the back so she'd come sit with me."
"After a while the girl started doing strange things," he continues. "She'd take my hands and push them up under her shirt and tell me I was tickling her. Then she started making me pull down my pants. It was awkward. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew something wasn't right."
For many years Jep didn't tell anyone about the abuse—his parents included. "I don't know if I necessarily consciously wanted to [keep it a secret]," he told Entertainment Tonight. "I was more embarrassed. I think in the end I didn't want my mom and dad to think they did anything wrong, and they didn't. It was just one of those things that happened, and I think it took me a long time to realize what had happened and how it affected me."
"Like I've said before, I don't think anything that happened to me made me do anything bad," he went on. "I hear people say that. I do think it affected the way I look at certain things. I was really scared of girls and just women in general, but I think God had a plan for that."
When asked about the molestation allegations surrounding 19 Kids and Counting star Josh Duggar, Jep made it clear to Entertainment Tonight that he doesn't know Josh or "what's in his heart." He did say, though, that when the Robertsons have gone through tough times in the spotlight, their family "just stuck together and prayed a lot."
"At some point I think you got to get a tough skin and no matter what anybody says about you, you just got to be like, 'We're just going to keep doing what we do,'" he added.
"And I think that's what they're doing," Jep's wife Jessica said of the Duggars. "I think they're staying close-knit and I think they'll be fine, but it'll be a long road."
Jep's book, The Good, the Bad, and the Grace of God will be available June 23. Duck Dynasty returns to A&E on June 24 at 9:30 p.m.