Alberta home-school group takes second look at having TV Duggars speak

EDMONTON – An Alberta home-schooling association says it is reviewing a decision to have a controversial reality TV couple speak at its annual convention.

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar of Arkansas are to give a keynote address at the Alberta Home Education Convention in Red Deer next April.

The Alberta Home Education Association, which is organizing the convention, says in a statement that it’s aware of recent news stories and comments about the selection.

It says it is reviewing speaker arrangements and will make a decision early next week.

The Duggars’ long-running show “19 Kids and Counting” chronicled the life of the religious couple and their home-schooled children.

The TLC program was pulled earlier this year after revelations that their oldest child had fondled four of his sisters and a family babysitter when he was a teenager.

The couple has stated that, instead of going to police, they put their son in a Christian rehabilitation program and the abuse was resolved and forgiven.

The Alberta Home Education Association said in a previous statement on its website that it had received a response of almost unanimous support for the family.

While it doesn’t condone the molestation, the group called it “old news” and said it “wishes to follow the example of the victims who have expressed a desire to ‘forgive and forget.’”