Duggars invite to Alberta homeschool convention under review
Homeschooling organization's website post says decision expected early next week
The Alberta Home Education Association (AHEA) is having second thoughts about inviting the Duggar family to offer a keynote address at its spring conference in Red Deer, according to a statement on the organization's website.
"AHEA is aware of recent media stories and comments on the Duggar family," the post reads.
"We are currently reviewing our speaker arrangements for the 2016 convention and we expect to make a decision early next week."
In May, the TLC network cancelled the family's show, 19 Kids and Counting, after their eldest son admitted he had molested four of his sisters when he was a teenager.
Paul Van Den Bosch, president of the Alberta Home Education Association, defended the decision to invite the family to speak at the conference.
He said the Duggars had been invited almost two years ago, prior to the family's public fall from grace.
"We ultimately decided that we were getting many more positive emails and calls from our members who still wanted to hear the Duggars who basically said, 'This did happen 10 years ago and it was the son not the parents and so please don't punish the parents for the sins of the son,'" Van Den Bosch told CBC News Thursday morning.
The website post followed that interview. The conference begins April 8 in Red Deer.