After two weeks of a media firestorm surrounding their family, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar sat down with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly to answer questions about their son's admitted molestation of underage girls twelve years ago.

The first part of the two-part interview aired last night and the Duggars remained adamant that the actions they took at that time were the right thing to do for both the perpatrator, their son Josh, and the victims, which they confirm included four of their own daughters.

However, if Jim Bob and Michelle were hoping this interview would quell the storm of criticism regarding their parenting decisions, they will certainly be disappointed. The hashtag "#DuggarInterview began trending within minutes of the interview's broadcast, and viewers expressed their outrage, disgust, and outright hate of the Duggars as they explained and defended their decision not to immediately bring Josh to the police when his actions became apparent.

Jim Bob elaborated on the circumstances that led to Josh's confession, insisting, "Josh said he was just curious about girls. The ray of hope for us was that Josh came to us and told us himself." Because Josh's "heart was still soft", Jim Bob and Michelle believed that his repentance and regret of his actions at that time that he confessed to them was sincere. Furthermore, they explained, Josh wasn't motivated to confess by the fear of getting caught because all of his victims, at least in his initial acts, were sleeping and "not even aware or able to understand what had happened," according to Michelle.

Jim Bob added, "Alot of parents have said that similar things happened in their families, and often times, the stories were much worse."

Though Josh repeated his "improper touching" with his sisters several other times, accompanied by confessions, tears and punishments, the last straw for the Duggars was when Josh touched "the young one" (Megyn Kelly elaborated that this daughter was under ten years old at the time) inappropriately. He was immediately moved out of the house and to what Jim Bob refers to as a "treatment facility, with a police station on one side and a jail and the other." Jim Bob elaborated that he chose this approach rather than turning Josh over to authorities because he had heard that juvenile detention and reform centers in his area had low success rates.

Speaking about the "treatment facility," which was really a mentorship program based out of Little Rock, Arkansas, the Duggars revealed that their fears about their son were put to rest when he returned. Kelly asked, "Did you ever worry that the 'treatment' didn't work?" Michelle shook her head. "No. No, Josh was a changed person."

While many have pointed a finger at the Duggars for not going to the police immediately upon Josh's first admission of guilt, Jim Bob pointed out, "As parents, we are not obligated to report on our child. The law allows parents to do what they think it best for their child." It was clear that both Jim Bob and Michelle felt that they had gone above and beyond their legal duty by turning Josh in to a local police station to confess over a year after the events occurred. "We didn't know what would happen," Jim Bob said.

Weeks went by, then months, as the Duggars waited to see what the police would do in response to Josh's confession. Ultimately, no legal repercussions were brought on Josh at that time.

Addressing a big question many fans of the show have had since the molestation story came to light, Michelle told Megyn Kelly that "all of our children received professional counseling; including Josh, who paid for his own counseling himself."

It appears that the Duggars feel that their family has been "re-victimized" by the unsealing of Josh's juvenile record and the release of the police report that contains statements made by each of the victims. Jim Bob stated, "Every victim should have the right to tell their own story, not a tabloid." Indeed, when asked if they view Josh as a pedophile, the couple replied vehemently: "No!" Michelle went on to say, "I feel like this is more about... there's an agenda. And there are people that are purposing to try to bring things out and twisting them to hurt and slander."

The Duggars went on to blame a local police chief, a failing police system, and the mainsteam media for targeting their family. Believing they are being unfairly criticized because of their Christian faith, Michelle stated that her daughters have been "victimized more" by the press and their disregard for privacy than they were by the actions that Josh committed.

Michelle reasoned, "We weren't keeping secrets, we were protecting those who needed to be protected."

The Duggar Interview, Part 2, in which Megyn Kelly speaks with Josh's sisters Jessa and Jill about these events, will air on Fox News at 9pm on Friday.