PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Joseph Duggar appeared before a Florida judge Tuesday morning for a first appearance hearing, during which he was informed of the charges against him, his bond was set at $600,000 and he was given a formal arraignment date.
Duggar, 31, was arrested March 18 by Tontitown police on suspicion of lewd and lascivious behavior — molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older, according to a news release posted on Facebook by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
Duggar had been held at the Washington County Detention Center after his arrest awaiting extradition to Bay County, where the reported activity occurred. He did not fight extradition, instead signing a waiver to allow it to proceed. Duggar was picked up from the jail Friday afternoon.
[WATCH: Joseph Duggar’s first court appearance in a Florida court.]
Duggar appeared Tuesday morning in gray striped jail attire before Bay County Circuit Judge Tracy Smith by video link from the Bay County Jail. Smith read Duggar the charges he is facing.
A lawyer representing Duggar at the first appearance asked Smith to set a reasonable bond, citing Duggar having no criminal history. He told the judge Duggar’s father was in Florida and ready to post bond.
A prosecutor argued Duggar had no connection to the community and could be considered a flight risk. He cited the seriousness of the charges and that they involved a child.
The judge was also advised of pending misdemeanor charges in Arkansas, including endangering the welfare of a minor and false imprisonment involving minor victims.
Smith set Duggar’s bond on the molestation charge at $500,000 and set bond on the other charge at $100,000.
Duggar was ordered to have no contact with the accuser of any kind and ordered to have no unsupervised contact with any minor. His arraignment was scheduled for 9 a.m. April 20.
Duggar told the judge he did not want an attorney appointed by the court to represent him.
SEX CRIMES ACCUSATIONS
A Tontitown police detective was contacted Bay County investigators March 18 regarding a report of sexual abuse, according to a news release from the Tontitown Police Department. Officers received an arrest warrant from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office for Duggar.
The 14-year-old girl who made the report participated in a forensic interview, where she disclosed several incidents involving Duggar that occurred during a 2020 family vacation in Panama City Beach, Fla., when she was 9 years old, the release states.
The girl reported Duggar repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap. As the vacation continued, he also asked her to sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket, at which time Duggar manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals, she said.
Duggar also continued to rub his hands on her thighs, according to the release.
“The victim stated Duggar eventually apologized for his actions and the incidents stopped after the apology,” the release states.
The girl’s father confronted Duggar about these incidents March 17. Duggar admitted his actions to the girl’s father and Tontitown detectives, according to the release.
Duggar is most well-known for being part of his family’s cable television reality show “19 Kids and Counting” on TLC. The show, which chronicled the Duggar family’s home life, ran for 10 seasons starting in 2008. It was canceled in 2015 after it became public knowledge one of Duggar’s brothers — Josh Duggar — confessed to molesting four of his sisters and another girl while he was a teenager.
Josh Duggar is currently serving a 12½-year federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 of possession of child pornography by a federal court jury in Fayetteville. He is seeking to appeal his conviction, contending he was denied a fair trial and his rights were violated.