Jana Duggar has finally broken her silence since her older brother, Joseph Duggar, was arrested on charges of child molestation. In a heartfelt statement on her Instagram Stories on Thursday, April 2, Jana, 36, expressed the profound sadness and shock her family felt upon learning of Joseph's arrest. "We had no prior knowledge before it became public," she wrote.
"Our hearts are with the child who has been harmed - this is a grievous and unacceptable wrong," Jana added, who welcomed her first baby with husband Stephen Wissmann in December 2025. "We continue to pray for the victim and for justice to be carried out."
Joseph, 31, is accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl during a family vacation in Panama City Beach, Fla., in 2020. He was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, including one for molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and one for conduct committed by a person 18 years or older.
The former Counting On star was arrested in Arkansas on March 18. After being extradited to Florida, he made his first court appearance there on March 31. Two days earlier, he entered a not guilty plea to all charges, waived arraignment, and demanded a jury trial in a written document signed by his attorney. A judge set Joseph's bond at $600,000, and he is now back in Arkansas. As a condition of his release, he is banned from having unsupervised contact with minors under the age of 18, including his and wife Kendra Duggar's four children.
Some of Joseph's other siblings have also spoken out about his criminal case. Jason Duggar, 25, and his wife Maddie expressed their "anger" at the situation, adding that they "pray God's righteous hand and the court system will serve justice in the situation as deserved." They also asked for prayers for the victim, who "has been brave enough to share what has happened," and for Joseph's children, who "must face the reality of losing a father that should have been a spiritual leader in their lives."
Joseph's sister Jinger Duggar and her husband Jeremy Vuolo commented on the situation in a March 25 episode of their podcast, where they also reflected on the Duggar family's past legal history. Her eldest brother Josh Duggar was convicted of receiving and possessing material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, also known as child sexual abuse material, in 2021. Josh, 38, was also accused of sexually abusing five girls, including his sisters Jill and Jessa.
"You can't be prepared for news like this, even though we've experienced something very similar before, with one of my other siblings who made unthinkable choices," Jinger said on Jinger & Jeremy. "And yet the pain and hurt that's caused to us, but then to so many others, is just so hard. It's hard to know what to do sometimes, moving forward. You just feel the weight of it."
Joseph and Kendra are also facing four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree and four counts of false imprisonment in the second degree, all misdemeanors. The Tontitown, Ark., Police Department said on March 20 that these charges are unrelated to the Florida case.
