Joseph Duggar entered a plea of not guilty Tuesday in a Florida court after he was extradited from Arkansas to the state where he’s accused of molesting a 9-year-old girl when he was older than 18.
The 31-year-old “19 Kids and Counting” alumnus posted a $600,000 bond Tuesday and was flying home, where on judge’s orders he will be barred from contact with anyone younger than 18.
“Our No. 1 goal is to make sure he is treated fairly,” especially because of his status as a reality TV celebrity, Duggar attorney Albert Sauline told the Associated Press.
Duggar was arrested March 18 in his home state of Arkansas after authorities in Panama City Beach, Fla., interviewed a 14-year-old girl who accused him of molesting her when when she was 9 and he was on vacation.
The third oldest of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar’s 10 sons — the family also includes nine daughters — was charged upon arrest with lewd and lascivious behavior molesting a victim under 12 and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person over 18.
The hearing on Tuesday came hours after the onetime reality star was extradited from Tontitown, Ark., where he was arrested. If convicted, he could face a life sentence.
Sister Amy Duggar King said she wasn’t surprised by the allegations and arrest, telling People in an interview published Wednesday that there was a “deeper systemic issue” at play.
“When they grow up around environments where the power is unchecked, and men are elevated and not held accountable, and silence is encouraged and rewarded, it creates the perfect conditions for abuse to happen and to continue.”
Here’s what we know so far about the case and events related to it.
What is Joseph Duggar accused of?
The Arkansas resident is accused of molesting the victim, then 9 years old, while vacationing at a residence in Florida in 2020. He was in his mid-20s at the time.
“Duggar repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap,” the Bay County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office said in a statement March 18. “As the vacation continued, he 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.”
There were multiple such incidents, authorities said. “The victim stated Duggar eventually apologized [to her] for his actions and the incidents stopped after the apology,” the sheriff’s office said.
The victim’s father confronted Duggar about the incidents this year, investigators learned. On March 17, Duggar admitted to the father and to hometown detectives what he had done and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Joseph Duggar’s wife, Kendra, was also arrested after a home visit
Kendra Duggar, who shares four children with her husband, has been charged with multiple counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and false imprisonment of a minor after authorities conducted a home inspection in Arkansas.
(Washington County (Ark.) Sheriff’s Office / Getty Images)
Joseph’s wife, Kendra Duggar, was arrested by Tontitown authorities on March 20, two days after her husband was taken into custody on the charges out of Florida. The 27-year-old mother of four was charged with four misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment.
News station KNWA-TV reported that Tontitown police said this separate investigation was “launched on the heels of the alleged incident in Florida.”
A source close to the family told People that Kendra Duggar’s arrest was the result of a home inspection where locks were found “on the exterior of the doors. “
If convicted, she could face up to eight years behind bars. The charges in Arkansas are apparently unrelated to the molestation charges that Joseph Duggar faces in Florida. Like his wife, he was also charged with the same alleged offenses. As of Wednesday, neither spouse had entered a plea on those charges.
This isn’t the first time for alleged inappropriate behavior
“It’s crazy to think this is happening again,” King told People in the new interview. In her book “Holy Disruptor,” she revealed that when she was young, her now-deceased grandmother would make sure every night that King’s bedroom door was locked. After her grandfather died, King said, Michelle Duggar explained why the girls were never allowed to be alone with him: He was a “predator.”
The family’s image of purity and religious devotion, which was played up for public consumption on the TLC show quickly faded in May 2015 when Josh Duggar, then 27 and the eldest of those “19 Kids,” was accused of molesting five younger girls when he was 15. Four of them were his sisters; the other was a babysitter.
The show, which had been TLC’s top attraction with an average of more than 3 million viewers per episode, was canceled in July 2015 after airing on the network since 2008. It had been pulled after the molestation reports went public and advertisers distanced themselves.
Then in August, Josh Duggar entered a treatment center a week after it was revealed that he had spent $1,000 on subscriptions to the have-an-affair website Ashley Madison between February 2013 and May 2015. He later issued a statement apologizing for cheating on his wife, Anna, and said he had a porn addiction.
Though he confessed to fondling the girls, Josh Duggar faced no legal consequences as the statute of limitations had run out. The Ashley Madison scandal was embarrassing but not illegal. But in 2021 he was found guilty of two counts of possessing and receiving materials depicting the sexual abuse of children. He was sentenced in 2022 to 12½ years in federal prison.
Duggar had been arrested in April 2021 after his activity was found in an undercover investigation involving an online file-sharing program, the Department of Justice said. Authorities searched his business in November 2019 and seized his desktop computer and other evidence.
During the trial, prosecutors presented compelling evidence that he used the dark web to download material depicting the sexual abuse of children to a laptop at his car dealership. A Homeland Security agent described the images as among “the top five of the worst of the worst that I’ve ever had to examine.”
In March 2023, Duggar’s release date was extended by nearly two months over a contraband cellphone. He and Anna, who share seven children, are still married.
Joseph’s parents, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, finally spoke out
The elder Duggars “are focused on loving their family and helping Kendra and her children during this difficult time,” a spokesperson for the couple told various outlets. “They are praying for the victim.”
While the couple asked for privacy, the spokesperson said, they also thanked fans for their prayers and kind words.
The family rose to fame via “19 Kids and Counting,” a long-running TLC reality series about a fundamentalist Christian family who homeschooled their children and disavowed birth control and kissing before marriage. The series started out with “17 Kids” in the title, then went to 18 and finally 19. All 19 offspring have names starting with the letter J.
After the “19 Kids” cancellation, “Counting On,” a spin-off focusing on the children other than Josh Duggar, was launched. That show ended after his child pornography arrest.
Times staff writer Alexandra Del Rosario and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
