Joseph Duggar, a former personality from the TV series “19 Kids and Counting” on TLC, was taken into custody in Arkansas on Wednesday on charges of inappropriate behavior involving illegal sexual activity with a minor, as per authorities. The accusations against Duggar are connected to an incident in Florida in 2020. A statement from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office revealed that during a forensic interview in March 2026, a 14-year-old girl claimed that Duggar had behaved inappropriately towards her during a family trip to Panama City Beach, Florida, when she was 9 years old.
Duggar was apprehended in Tontitown, Arkansas, the location where “19 Kids and Counting” was filmed. The statement mentioned that the victim’s father confronted Duggar about the incidents on March 17, 2026, and Duggar confessed to his actions both to the victim’s father and to Tontitown Detectives.
A separate release from the Tontitown Police Department stated that a warrant for Duggar’s arrest was issued on Wednesday, and he is currently awaiting extradition to Bay County. There has been no public response from Duggar or his family regarding the allegations.
The arrest of Joseph Duggar comes following the conviction of his brother, Josh Duggar, for possessing and sharing child sexual abuse material. Federal authorities initiated an investigation after discovering that child sexual abuse material was being shared from a computer linked to Josh Duggar at a car dealership in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 2019, a computer at the dealership was reportedly used to download images depicting the sexual abuse of children, leading to Josh Duggar receiving a 12½-year prison sentence in 2022.
The reality TV series “19 Kids and Counting” was canceled by TLC in 2015 after allegations emerged that Josh Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter in the past. The authorities investigated the matter following a tip from a family friend but found that the statute of limitations had expired for any potential charges.
In response to the resurfaced allegations in 2015, Duggar’s parents stated that he had admitted to the misconduct and privately apologized. He later made a public apology for his actions, resigned from his position as a lobbyist for the Family Research Council, and some family members, including Joseph Duggar, addressed the allegations in the TLC special “Jill & Jessa: Counting On.”
Expressing his shock, Joseph Duggar mentioned in a segment from the show that he was taken aback by his brother’s hidden life and the contradiction with their Christian beliefs on marital fidelity. The news of his brother’s behavior deeply saddened him.
