PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (TCN) — A former star of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” reality show has been arrested on child sex abuse charges.
Joseph Duggar, 31, was arrested March 18 in connection with the alleged molestation of a minor in 2020, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. Their investigators were contacted on March 18 by a police detective from Tontitown, Arkansas, regarding a report of past sexual abuse. In an interview with the 14-year-old victim, whose name has not been released, she disclosed that Duggar had allegedly abused her during a family vacation to Panama City Beach, Florida, when she was 9 years old.
According to the sheriff’s office, the victim told investigators Duggar allegedly had her sit beside him on the couch and then covered them with a blanket. The victim alleged Duggar then manipulated her underwear, grazed her genitals, and rubbed her thighs. She said Duggar later apologized and the alleged abuse stopped after that. The victim’s father confronted Duggar on March 17, and Duggar allegedly admitted to his actions. He also allegedly admitted them to Tontitown detectives.
Duggar was arrested in Arkansas and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior involving unlawful sexual activity with a minor and is awaiting extradition to Bay County, Florida, according to the sheriff’s office.
Duggar’s older brother, Josh Duggar, was found guilty of child pornography charges in 2021 and sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2022. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas, he “repeatedly downloaded and viewed images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, including images of prepubescent children and depictions of sadistic abuse.”
In addition, although he was never charged, a police report from 2006 alleged Josh Duggar inappropriately touched five underage girls, four of them his sisters, per E! News.
Joseph Duggar, Josh Duggar, and their 17 siblings were featured on the show “19 Kids and Counting,” which ran on TLC from 2008 to 2015. In the show, parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are shown raising and homeschooling their children with religious values. E! News reports sibling Jill Duggar said in a documentary in 2023 that the Institute of Basic Life Principles, which their family followed, can foster a “cultlike environment.” The show was canceled in 2015 after the molestation accusations against Josh Duggar were revealed.
According to jail records obtained by People, Duggar is scheduled to appear in court on March 20.
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