The victim claimed Duggar “repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap” and inappropriately touched her.

BAY COUNTY, Florida — Joseph Duggar, one of the stars of the TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” has been arrested for alleged sex crimes involving a child.

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) in Florida said Duggar, 31, was arrested and charged with molestation of a victim less than 12 as well as lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older.

BCSO said that on March 18, investigators with the sheriff’s office were contacted by a detective in Tontitown, Arkansas. The detective said a 14-year-old victim had come forward with allegations stemming from an encounter with Duggar during a vacation in Panama City Beach.

The family vacation occurred in 2020, when the alleged victim was 9 years old, according to a release from BCSO. The victim claimed Duggar “repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap” and inappropriately touched her.

“The victim stated Duggar eventually apologized for his actions and the incidents stopped after the apology,” BCSO said. “The victim’s father confronted Duggar about these incidents on March 17th.”

Duggar reportedly then admitted the incidents to the victim’s father and Tontitown detectives, BCSO added.

Duggar was arrested in Tontitown and will be extradited to Bay County.

“The Tontitown Police Department is aware of a reported incident that may cause concern within our community,” Tontitown police said. “This incident did not occur in Tontitown. Our officers assisted the victim, the family, and the agency with jurisdiction over the case.”

Joseph is one of the children of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, a family featured in the TLC show “19 Kids and Counting” and “Counting On.” His brother, Josh, was found guilty in 2021 of possessing child sexual abuse material.

Denis Dean, a Washington County prosecutor not connected to the case, sat down with 5NEWS on Wednesday to break down what happens next.

For a case like this one, which involves a suspect arrested in a different state than the alleged crime, there are procedural matters to get out of the way.

“When a person is arrested in another jurisdiction, there’s an extradition process that takes place,” Dean said. 

Dean explained that Duggar will have the option to waive extradition or challenge it. If he chooses to waive it, Florida officials will have around 30 days to pick him up. 

If Duggar chooses to challenge it, however, that is a bit more of a lengthy process.

“If he can test jurisdiction, then Florida has to obtain what’s called a governor’s warrant. Basically, the Florida Governor sends something to the Arkansas Governor and says, ‘we want this person.'”

Dean said that the process of challenging extradition is usually longer, and involves more paperwork, but is also rarer.

“Most people waive extradition because there’s not a whole lot of successful challenges to extradition,” Dean said.

Another aspect of the case that investigators and prosecutors will have to handle is the length of time between the alleged incidents and when they were reported.

Investigators said the victim came forward in 2026 and that the alleged incidents happened in 2020. When asked how prosecutors approach a case like that, Dean said physical evidence isn’t out of the question.

“In a case of delayed disclosure, usually there’s not going to be as much physical evidence that is present in something that happens acutely, but there still are fragments and evidence that can be found in these cases to corroborate what a victim is saying,” Dean said.

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