Joseph Duggar groomed a 9-year-old girl he allegedly molested during a 2020 family vacation in Florida by having her sit on his lap and working his way up to physical touching, the now 14-year-old told police, according to an affidavit.
Duggar, 31, was arrested on March 18, a day after the victim’s father confronted him and got him to admit it, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida said in a media release. He was picked up in Tontitown, Arkansas, where the family lives, and charged with one count of lewd and lascivious behavior for molestation of a victim under age 12, and another count of lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older.
Duggar, his wife, Kendra, and their children were vacationing with family in Panama City Beach six years ago when he allegedly molested the girl. First he “asked [her] to sit on his lap, numerous times” and would “cradle [her] with his arms,” the now-teen told a detective with the Tontitown Police Department in Arkansas, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit obtained by People. Once that routine was established, Duggar allegedly coaxed the girl to “sit on the couch beside [him]” and “covered the parties with a blanket,” the affidavit stated.
“Once the parties were covered, the defendant would pull the victim’s dress up and touch the victim’s thighs,” grazing her vagina, Deputy Sheriff Darrell Norris of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida wrote in the affidavit, noting she said his “hand was outside of her underwear.”
Duggar also allegedly “manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals,” the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in a media release when he was arrested, citing the forensic interview. “Duggar would also continue to rub his hands on her thighs.”
The girl felt “uncomfortable” and “confused” as the incidents mounted, the affidavit stated. At some point Duggar “approached the victim and apologized for his actions,” after which “the incidents stopped occurring.”
The investigation into the girl’s allegations led authorities to inspect the home Duggar shares with his wife, 27-year-old Kendra Duggar, where they found locks to rooms were “on the exterior of the doors,” a source told People. This led to her arrest on March 20 on separate charges that were also filed against her husband. They were each charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of false imprisonment.
Kendra Duggar was released on bond and scheduled to return to court on April 29. Joseph Duggar waived his right to an extradition hearing and was being held in a “secure” area of the Washington County Jail in Arkansas pending transfer to Florida to face the molestation charges.
Joseph Duggar’s big brother Josh Duggar is already serving time on his 2021 conviction for downloading child pornography. Josh had previously admitted to molesting multiple girls as a teen, including some of his sisters, but charges were never filed.
The two brothers are part of a 19-child brood who starred in the reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” along with their parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. The show ran on TLC for 200 episodes over 10 seasons from 2008 to 2015 and profiled a family espousing conservatism and living purportedly Christian values as devout Baptists. It was canceled shortly after Josh Duggar’s arrest.
With News Wire Services