A 76-year-old Bill Gothard reportedly told teenager Emily Anderson that he loved her, put a hand on her thigh, then took her by the hand and escorted her up to his office. All the while, a man was there, working on his computer and witnessing Gothard’s grooming for abuse, Anderson says.
For the first time, Anderson, an alleged victim of Gothard’s sexual abuse, is publicly naming the male witness she described in the hit Amazon docuseries “Shiny Happy People.” The witness is David Waller, brother-in-law to disgraced reality TV star Josh Duggar, Anderson wrote yesterday on her Thriving Forward Facebook page. Waller’s wife, Priscilla Waller, is the sister of Josh Duggar’s wife, Anna Duggar.
Waller also is a pastor at Fairpark Baptist Church, an Independent Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
Anderson hadn’t released Waller’s name for the documentary, which was the “biggest docuseries debut ever” for Amazon Prime Video.
But not only did Waller witness Gothard’s grooming, Waller participated in Gothard’s manipulation to keep Anderson at the headquarters for the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), Anderson alleged.
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“Over the span of two weeks, David watched closely as Gothard sexually groomed me (which included being present for late night sessions and inappropriate questioning as to my sexual and romantic relationship history), as Gothard persuaded me to come up to HQ, and then he assisted Gothard in crafting manipulative ways to coerce me into staying at HQ, against me and my mother’s wishes,” Anderson wrote.
Waller later took a position as director of the Advanced Training Institute (ATI), which Gothard founded as a program for homeschooling.
The Roys Report (TRR) reached out to Waller through his church’s phone, contact page, and Facebook account, but received no immediate response.
Gothard had singled Anderson out when she was 13 years old, Anderson said on episode 3 of “Shiny Happy People.” Then when she turned 14, he invited her to come stay at IBLP’s headquarters.
“Bill took one of his female assistants,” Anderson said in the documentary. “He pointed at me and he looked her straight in the eye and he said, ‘Don’t let this one go.’”
Anderson waited until she was 18 to move to IBLP, at which point, Gothard reportedly began counseling her one-on-one, often late at night.
“When Bill talked to me, he made my dad out to be the villain and proceeded to tell me that my father had lost all authority over me, and that Bill was my new authority,” she said in the documentary.
@thrivingforward I received an email from Amazon this morning containing the very first clip I’ve seen of my interview footage. I opened it and my heart instantly started to pound and my entire body started to shake. I can’t tell you what this means for me to finally see my story shared this way. After six years of grooming by Bill. After he convinced me to back down and remove my story off the internet when I first shared it in 2012. He no longer controls me. He no longer has a voice in my life. I am free. ~ Emily Elizabeth Anderson “Shiny Happy People” airs June 2nd on Amazon Prime!! #shinyhappypeopledoc
In 2015, Anderson was one of 18 women who sued the IBLP and Gothard in an Illinois civil court for negligence in regards to sexual abuse and sexual harassment. Anderson, called Jane Doe III in the suit, alleged that Gothard would try to separate her from her mother, get her to stop taking her medicine for a medical condition, manipulate her to stay longer at headquarters.
The suit alleges that Gothard would frequently give her affection including whispering in her ear, touching her hair, calling her “angel,” and saying she was beautiful. Anderson alleged she tried several times to report the abuse to ATI and IBLP leaders. The plaintiffs later voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit, citing complexities such as statutes of limitations.
Meanwhile, Waller hasn’t changed, Anderson said in her post.
“If you are wondering if Waller has since changed in the last decade and now chooses to hold abusers accountable, I can personally say I believe he has NOT,” Anderson wrote.
When Josh Duggar, whose family followed IBLP teachings, was sentenced to 12 ½ years in a federal prison for downloading and possessing pornography, Waller wrote a letter to the judge asking for leniency, Anderson wrote in her post.
Waller said that Duggar helped a “struggling and needy widow,” KNWA Fox 24 previously reported.
“I have personally observed Joshua Duggar being a man of integrity and take considerable loss after selling a vehicle to a friend of mine at his cost,” Waller’s letter to the judge stated. “As a pastor who cares about the spiritual condition of people, I urge you to consider how much his wife and seven children need him in their lives . . . and brought back home to provide not just financial, but spiritual guidance of the family.”
Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.
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16 Responses
Waller’s getting some bad publicity these days. Just two days ago, his church was in the national news because his father-in-law (wife Priscilla’s father Mike Keller) provided a guest sermon at Waller’s Fairpark Baptist Church that included a jaw-dropping historically inaccurate portrayal about the life of black slaves in the South in the 1800s: See link: https://www.newsweek.com/preacher-sparks-backlash-praising-good-people-slave-plantations-1809721
Appreciate you covering this. I’ve been following Emily Elizabeth Anderson’s story for a while now.
By the way, the title of the documentary is “Shiny Happy People”.
This sermon was unbelievable to watch & listen to. Wondering if any tv news stations have picked up on it?
Judging by Mike Keller’s standards our founding fathers should have shown humility and submitted to King George instead of defiantly declaring independence and violently enforce it by picking up weapons. Of course his underlying racism would strangle that notion at its conception.
I saw that but did not realize he was at Fair Park when he did that!
Kudos to Ms. Anderson for naming names. A primary predator inside of a large organization is often enabled by others who actively conceal or passively ignore the abuse. Harvey Weinstein had assistants, Jeffrey Epstein had Ghislaine Maxwell, and Bill Gothard likely had some helpers as well. All are complicit and should be held accountable.
I don’t know much about the statue of limitations in Illinois, but this didn’t happen long ago and if we have an eyewitness, my guess is that there is criminal liability on Gothard’s part. My hope is that the police are investigating and that criminal charges can be brought.
Hi Bob – apparently Bill Gothard is now 88 yrs old & will turn 89 later this year.
Since this happened 12-13 years ago, it is outside the statute of limitations.
The article included this info:
“In 2015 Anderson was one of 18 women who sued the IBLP and Gothard in an IL civil court for negligence in regards to sexual abuse and sexual harassment.
Unfortunately the plaintiffs later voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit citing complexities such as the statutes of limitations.”
Heard some of his stuff in youth class in the 70s. “Grooming” is a concept I’m trying to relate to grown people who own a Bible. It’s as though a man with authority in “ministry” isn’t subject to the word of God? When any behavior runs counter to the written word, it’s obviously NOT the word that’s wrong. Sexually exploiting women, isn’t supported by the Bible. It wouldn’t matter who the guy is. What does the Bible say? Paul said he buffeted his body to keep it in subjection, lest after having preached to others, he himself should be cast away. Paul kinda outranks Gothard. He should be a model for all leadership.
You are not understanding the indoctrination that takes place in these high control groups.
it is about time to identify the wolves within the church and how they have used patriarchy to keep their places in power and justify their abuse of the flock.
I applaud her for giving his name. People cannot wake up and get out of these cults without help. The truth is one type of help.
Thank you for this article. It sickens me tread what an evil man Bill Gothard really is!
I remember being in Bible School in the 1980s with students who went to Bill Gothard meetings. I will be honest I never felt comfortable about Mr. Gothard.
I don’t want to say much other than I remember one of the students who told about going to his seminars and used some of material was an excellent pastor after school. However he eventually left his wife and backslid and left the ministry. I won’t say anymore here other than I wonder how much of Bill Gothard’s ministry hurt him?
Ezekiel 3:18 is crystal clear along with the context in Ezek. 3:17-21). When Waller sees Gothard’s sin/grooming, and says nothing, he is guilty in the eyes of God for the same sin as Gothard, for remaining quiet. The same for Josh Duggar’s parents, his wife, their pastor, and everyone else who knew and did nothing…and even worse, when he wrote a letter of recommendation for Josh, including Waller saying that Josh’s wife and 7 children needed him home for his “spiritual” leadership… There is a ‘spirit’ there, but to the degree it violates Scripture, it is not the Spirit of the Lord, so it cannot be true spiritual leadership. And somehow, Josh being convicted of downloading some of the worst images of child porn the investigators had ever seen, doesn’t quality for “spiritual” leadership (at least not most people). So Waller is doubling down on his record before God, where he is protecting groomers and pedophiles…and even as he may get away with it now, his record of choices is waiting for him on judgment day, along with the record of the abusers he has protected. And who will write a letter of recommendation for him, when he stands naked before the Lord, the same Lord who knows everything, include the deepest thoughts and motives in our hearts, (Heb. 4:12-13) with no excuses and no way to justify the way he has protected and stood for groomers and abusers?
The author describes some of the grooming techniques:
“(He) would frequently give her affection including whispering in her ear, touching her hair, calling her “angel,” and saying she was beautiful.”
Just like Joe Biden has done multiple times. Except he did it in front of the entire world, and now he’s President. Beware the power of corporate media, which can can convict or coronate.
and if Biden is grooming and abusing women, I hope it comes to light and is prosecuted.
but thus far, no one has come forward saying that. other than people like you who seem to wish it was true?