**Former 19 Kids and Counting Star Joseph Duggar Faces Charges for Allegedly Molesting a 9-Year-Old Girl**
The former TLC star, Joseph Duggar, 31, is now facing charges after allegedly molesting a 9-year-old girl during a vacation in 2020. The Bay County Sheriff's Office announced the charges on Wednesday, March 18, which include lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older.
Duggar is currently awaiting extradition to Bay County to face these charges. He was booked into the Washington County, Arkansas, jail on March 18 at 3:59 p.m. local time.
The allegations stem from a child sexual abuse case involving a then-9-year-old girl who was vacationing with her family in Panama City Beach, Fla., in 2020. According to the Bay County Sheriff's Office, Joseph allegedly asked the victim to sit on his lap and later asked her to sit next to him on a couch, covering them both with a blanket. During this time, Duggar allegedly manipulated the victim's underwear and grazed her genitals, while also continuing to rub his hands on her thighs.
The victim stated that Duggar eventually apologized for his actions, and the incidents stopped after the apology. The arrest was a result of the victim, now 14, participating in a forensic interview regarding a report of past sexual abuse. The victim's father confronted Duggar about the incidents, and Joseph "allegedly admitted his actions to the father and Tontitown detectives."
PEOPLE reached out to the Bay County Sheriff's Office and a representative for the Duggar family for comment. They confirmed that Duggar is in police custody but an official extradition timeline has not been released.
This arrest comes years after his brother Josh's ongoing legal troubles. In 2015, Josh, now 38, confessed to molesting multiple young girls, including sisters Jill (Duggar) Dillard and Jessa (Duggar) Seewald, as a teenager. That same year, he also admitted to using Ashley Madison to have an extramarital affair. The disgraced TV personality shares seven children with wife Anna Duggar. He later announced he would enter rehab for his pornography addiction.
In May 2019, Josh allegedly used the "dark web and online file-sharing software" to download "child sexual abuse material from the internet multiple times," according to the Department of Justice. In April 2021, Homeland Security arrested him. Eight months later, in December 2021, he was found guilty of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material. He was sentenced in May 2022 to 12 and a half years and has been serving his sentence at FCI Seagoville in Seagoville, Texas, with an anticipated release date in August 2032.
---
