{"id":532294,"date":"2026-03-19T06:29:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T06:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/532294\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T06:29:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T06:29:22","slug":"breaking-news-former-counting-on-star-joseph-duggar-arrested-on-charges-involving-unlawful-sexual-activity-with-a-minor-the-ashleys-reality-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/532294\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking News! Former \u2018Counting On\u2019 Star Joseph Duggar Arrested on Charges Involving Unlawful Sexual Activity with a Minor \u2013 The Ashley’s Reality Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: This story contains mentions of CSAM and child sexual assault.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former Counting On star Joseph Duggar has been arrested and charged<\/a> with Lewd and Lascivious Behavior involving unlawful sexual activity with a minor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Bay County Sheriff\u2019s Office in Florida reported on Wednesday that investigators were contacted by a detective in the Tontitown Police Department in Arkansas regarding a report of past alleged sexual abuse<\/a> involving the 31-year-old former TLC star.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Joe Duggar on \u2018Counting On.\u2019<\/p>\n

According to the BCSO, the detective revealed that a now-14-year-old victim had disclosed in a forensic interview several incidents involving Joseph that occurred during a 2020 family vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida, when the teen was 9 years-old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The victim claimed that Joseph asked her repeatedly to sit on his lap during the vacation, as well as next to him on a couch, and then covered them with a blanket. She went on to state that Joseph \u201cmanipulated\u201d her underwear and \u201cgrazed her genitals,\u201d and continued to rub his hands on her thighs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joseph eventually apologized for his actions and the incidents reportedly stopped; however, investigators learned that the victim\u2019s father confronted Joseph about the incidents earlier this week, at which point Joseph reportedly admitted his actions to the victim\u2019s father and to Tontitown detectives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Joe and wife Kendra on \u2018Counting On.\u2019<\/p>\n

According to the BCSO, Joseph was arrested out of state<\/a> and charged with Lewd and Lascivious Behavior\u2013\u00a0Molestation of a Victim Less Than 12-Years-Old and Lewd and Lascivious Behavior Conducted By a Person 18 Years or Older.<\/p>\n

As you know, Joseph, who shares at least four children with wife Kendra, is one of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar\u2019s 19 children; he\u2019s also the younger sibling of Josh Duggar, who is currently serving more than 12 years in prison for receiving and possessing child sex abuse materials<\/a> (CSAM).<\/p>\n

Joseph is currently awaiting extradition<\/a> to Bay County, Florida.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:\u00a0Joseph was booked into the Washington County Jail in Arkansas just before 4 p.m. local time on Wednesday, where he remains as of press time. He is being held for another department. His mugshot has also been released.<\/p>\n

\"\"Another Duggar mugshot\u2014 or DUGshot, if you will\u2026<\/p>\n

As of press time, no member of the Duggar family has released a statement regarding Joseph\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n

RELATED STORY: Josh Duggar Hires R. Kelly\u2019s Lawyer Beau Brindley Despite Previously Claiming He\u2019s Broke; Gets Latest Hearing Continued<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Photos: TLC)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trigger Warning: This story contains mentions of CSAM and child sexual assault.\u00a0 Former Counting On star Joseph Duggar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":{"0":"post-532294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}