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Joseph Duggar, former star of the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting, was arrested and charged in Arkansas Wednesday for lewd and lascivious behaviour involving unlawful sexual activity with a minor, authorities said.
According to a statement from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, Duggar’s charges relate to a 2020 incident in Florida. They state that in a March 2026 forensic interview, a 14-year-old girl alleged that Duggar molested her during a family vacation to Panama City Beach, Fla., when she was 9-years-old.
Duggar was arrested on Wednesday in Tontitown, Ark., where 19 Kids and Counting was filmed.
“Investigators discovered the victim’s father confronted Duggar about these incidents on March 17th, 2026,” the statement reads. “Duggar admitted his actions to the victim’s father and to Tontitown Detectives.”
According to a separate release from the Tontitown Police Department, they received a warrant for Duggar’s arrest on Wednesday. He is reportedly currently awaiting extradition to Bay County. Neither Duggar nor his family have publicly commented on the allegations.
Show cancellation
Joseph Duggar’s arrest comes years after his brother, Josh Duggar, was arrested and convicted for downloading images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. Federal authorities started an investigation after police in Little Rock, Ark., found child sexual abuse material was being shared by a computer traced to Josh Duggar.
Investigators testified that a computer at a car dealership owned by Josh Duggar was used in 2019 to download images depicting the sexual abuse of children, including toddlers. He was sentenced in 2022 to 12½ years in prison.
TLC cancelled 19 Kids and Counting in 2015 following allegations that Josh Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter years earlier. Authorities began investigating after receiving a tip from a family friend but concluded that the statute of limitations on any possible charges had expired.
Duggar’s parents said after the allegations resurfaced in 2015 that he had confessed to the fondling and apologized privately. He then apologized publicly for unspecified behaviour and resigned as a lobbyist for the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group. Some of his family, including Joseph Duggar, commented on those allegations in the three-part TLC special Jill & Jessa: Counting On.
Joseph Duggar said he was shocked to learn his brother “was living such a secret life.”
“Whenever somebody you respect the most is willing to get up and proclaim what we believe as Christians, about being true to your wife, you’d never think that that’s the person who’s involved in it,” he said in a 2015 clip from the show.
“It broke my heart,” he said.
