Here’s How Neighbors of Joseph and Kendra Duggar Reacted to Charges: ‘Wife Being Arrested Is Pretty Shocking’ (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Joseph and Kendra Duggar were both arrested in Tontitown, Ark.

• Joseph is accused of molesting a 9-year-old girl in Florida and faces charges of child endangerment in Arkansas

• Kendra is also charged with child endangerment but has not been accused in connection with her husband’s Florida case

After Joseph and Kendra Duggar were arrest on criminal charges, several of their neighbors spoke to PEOPLE exclusively.

Joseph, who formerly starred on his family’s reality show 19 Kids and Counting, was arrested in Tontitown, Ark., on March 18 after authorities in Bay County, Fla., charged him with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years.

Kendra was arrested two days later, Tontitown police said, adding that both she and Joseph had subsequently been charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of false imprisonment.

“They seemed nice,” the Duggars’ neighbor Karen tells PEOPLE about Joseph and Kendra. “I’m shocked over what I heard about him. It is very sad.”

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office alleged that Joseph molested a 9-year-old girl while on vacation with her family in Panama Beach City, Fla., in 2020.

“As the vacation continued, [Joseph] also asked her to sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket,” the sheriff’s office claimed. “During this time, Joseph manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals. He would also continue to rub his hands on her thighs.”

Authorities further alleged that Joseph confessed after being confronted by the girl’s father.

The charges that the couple are facing in Arkansas are not connected to Joseph’s case in Florida, a source close to the investigation told PEOPLE.

A source close to the Duggar family tells PEOPLE the child endangerment and false imprisonment charges stem from investigators allegedly finding locks on the exterior of doors in their home.

Kendra, who was released on bond shortly after her arrest, is not charged or suspected in connection with the Florida case, a family spokesperson said.

Courtney McKinney, a merchandise coordinator for Walmart, which is headquartered in nearby Bentonville, Ark., said she was familiar with the Duggars because of their TV show.

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“I remember watching the show and thinking what a godly family,” McKinney tells PEOPLE. “Now I go, ‘you don’t know what is going on in people’s lives’ … The wife being arrested is pretty shocking to me.”

Joseph’s older brother, Josh Duggar, is currently serving a 12-year federal prison sentence after he was found guilty of receiving and possessing material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in 2021.

Joseph and Kendra have been married since 2017 and have children together.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

Read the original article on People