Joseph Duggar, a former reality TV star from the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting, has been arrested on a child molestation charge in Florida. The 31-year-old was taken into custody in Arkansas and is awaiting extradition to Bay County, Florida, where he faces a charge of lewd and lascivious behaviour toward a child under 12.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Bay County Sheriff's Office, police in Tontitown, Arkansas, interviewed a 14-year-old girl who alleged that Duggar molested her multiple times during a family trip to Panama City Beach when she was nine years old. The girl's father confronted Duggar, who reportedly admitted to the abuse. During a subsequent phone call arranged by police with the father, Duggar again admitted to the actions.
Duggar's arrest comes nearly five years after his brother Josh Duggar was convicted of downloading child sexual abuse images. Josh Duggar was sentenced in 2022 to approximately 12 and a half years in prison on charges of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material. The family's TLC show was cancelled in 2015 following allegations that Josh Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter.
As of Thursday, no online court docket was available for Joseph Duggar in Florida, and it is unclear if he has legal representation. Inquiries to the Duggar family media request website and Tontitown police have not received immediate responses.
