The Duggars TLC Joseph Duggar, who starred on the hit TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, has been arrested in Florida for allegedly sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl.
A statement from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office on the 31-year-old’s arrest indicated that he has been charged with lewd and lascivious behavior involving unlawful sexual activity with a minor. His arrest comes five years after his brother, Josh Duggar, the eldest of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar’s 19 children, was arrested on charges of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material; he was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
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According to the Sheriff’s office, on March 18, Bay County investigators were contacted by a detective with the Tontitown Police Department regarding a report of past sexual abuse after a 14-year-old victim participated in a forensic interview. Speaking with authorities, the girl disclosed several incidents involving Duggar that she said occurred during a family vacation in Panama City Beach when she was 9.
Police said that an investigation of the incidents led them to learn they took place in 2020 while the family was staying at a residence on Danny Drive. The victim reported that Joseph Duggar, the Duggars’ seventh-born child, repeatedly asked the girl to sit on his lap. As the vacation continued, he is alleged to have also asked her to “sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket. During this time, Duggar manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals. Duggar would also continue to rub his hands on her thighs.”
The victim stated Duggar eventually apologized for his actions, and the incidents stopped after the apology, police said in the release viewed by The Hollywood Reporter.
Police said they discovered the victim’s father had confronted Joseph Duggar regarding these reported incidents on March 17; Duggar admitted his actions to the victim’s father and to detectives in Tontitown, police said.
Joseph Duggar was arrested out of state and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior – molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older. He is currently awaiting extradition to Bay County.
THR reached out to The Duggar Family directly for comment, but did not immediately hear back on Thursday.
19 Kids and Counting aired on TLC for seven years until its cancellation in 2015. The show followed devout Baptist family The Duggers: Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar and their nine daughters and 10 sons – all of whose names begin with the letter “J.” The show was canceled after Josh Duggar publicly apologized for having “acted inexcusably” following accusations he’d molested five girls — including some of his sisters — by fondling them.
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