In brief
Joseph Duggar, 31, has been charged with lewd and lascivious behavior against a child under the age of 12, following accusations of molestation from a teenager who reported incidents during a family trip. Duggar's arrest comes nearly five years after his brother's conviction for similar offenses, leading to heightened media attention on the Duggar family's past.
Former reality TV star Joseph Duggar is currently facing serious legal troubles as he has been charged with child molestation in Florida, almost five years after his brother Josh Duggar's conviction for downloading child sexual abuse images.
Joseph Duggar, 31, was arrested in Arkansas and is awaiting extradition to Florida. The charges against him include lewd and lascivious behavior towards a child under 12 years old, stemming from an affidavit released by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Panama City, Florida.
According to police reports, a 14-year-old girl recounted incidents of molestation that occurred when she was just 9 years old during a family trip to Panama City Beach. After confronting Duggar, the girl’s father alleges that Duggar admitted to the abuse. The police facilitated a recorded call where Duggar again confessed to his actions.
As of now, there is no known attorney representing Duggar in Florida, and efforts to reach the Duggar family for comments have gone unanswered. The Tontitown Police Department has stated that their investigation remains ongoing, while further inquiries have been directed to the Bay County Sheriff's Office in Florida.
TLC's '19 Kids and Counting' chronicled the lives of Joseph’s parents, Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, and their 19 children, who all had names starting with the letter “J.” Following allegations against Josh Duggar in 2015, including molesting his sisters, the network canceled the show. Josh was later convicted in 2022 and sentenced to around 12.5 years in prison for receiving and possessing images of child sexual abuse.
This latest charge against Joseph Duggar adds another chapter to the troubling legacy of the Duggar family, which has been under intense scrutiny for several years.
