| USA TODAY
The wife of “19 Kids and Counting” star Joseph Garrett Duggar will be charged alongside her husband after he was arrested in Arkansas and accused of molesting a child in Florida.
Both Joseph Duggar, 31, and Kendra Duggar, 27, have been charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child and four counts of false imprisonment in Arkansas, the Tontitown Police Department announced on Friday, March 20.
Police issued a warrant for Kendra’s arrest as Joseph remains held without bail at the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, but is expected to be extradited to Florida to face his charge there.
The former reality star, who was the seventh-oldest of 19 children on the TLC series, was arrested on Wednesday, March 18, and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior involving sexual activity with a 14-year-old female victim who was 9 at the time of the alleged incident, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
USA TODAY could not determine an attorney representing Joseph or Kendra Duggar by the time of publication and has reached out to the Duggar family and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
What is Joseph Duggar accused of in Florida?
During a forensic interview, the child disclosed several moments involving Joseph Duggar during a 2020 family vacation in Panama City Beach, the sheriff’s office said.
In one of these instances, he purportedly asked the child repeatedly to sit on his lap and in another manipulated the child’s underwear and grazed her genitals on a couch and under a blanket. The child said she received an apology from Joseph and no other incidents occurred, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff said the child’s father later confronted Duggar about the incidents on March 17 and the reality TV alum admitted to his actions to law enforcement in Tontitown and local police arrested Duggar soon after.
In 2015, “19 Kids and Counting” was canceled following revelations that Josh, who is the oldest sibling, had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter when he was a teen. He also admitted that he cheated on his wife and shared a public apology in 2015.
Jill Duggar reacts to her brother’s arrest
Jill Duggar Dillard addressed the arrest of her brother Joseph Duggar in a longstanding blog, saying the family is “shocked and heartbroken.”
“We strongly condemn abuse,” the blog post continued. “We support the rule of law and hope that justice will be achieved. Our hearts go out to the innocent juvenile victim of this unspeakable crime and her family. We pray God gives her strength, comfort and hope, and that she is able to get all the help and support she needs and deserves in the days ahead.”
The family also shared words for Duggar’s wife, Kendra, and their four children. “We love our sister-in-law, Kendra, and our four nieces and nephews and pray that they feel loved and supported during this time as we cannot imagine the indescribable pain they feel as they process and grieve everything,” they wrote, followed by the Bible verses Isaiah 1:17 and Psalm 34:18.
Joseph Duggar’s brother, Josh Duggar, was previously convicted of possessing child pornography
Joseph Duggar’s arrest comes years after his older brother, Josh Duggar, was arrested for possession of child pornography in 2021. He was convicted later that year and, in 2022, was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
That same year, TLC aired a spinoff series, titled “Counting On,” centered around two sisters from the Duggar family, but it was also canceled following Josh’s arrest in 2021 after 11 seasons.
In 2023, a four-part limited docuseries titled “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” delved into revelations about the infamous family, including how the parents, Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar, joined a “cult” known as the Institute for Basic Life Principles as a young couple.
Jill Duggar Dillard, who was one of Josh’s victims, said she felt obligated to defend her brother Josh against sex abuse claims. In 2020, she revealed that there was “some distancing” between her and her family, saying they were “not on the best terms” amid “disagreements,” but that they were “working toward healing definitely and restoration.”
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support in English and Spanish via chat and at 800-656-4673.
Contributing: Melina Khan, USA TODAY
