BREAKING: Joseph Duggar Just Got ARRESTED After CONFESSING Facing 25 to Life – He’s WORSE Than Josh!
A massive scandal has just hit the Duggar family as Joseph Duggar (31) has officially been arrested after confessing to disturbing actions during a phone call with the victim’s father and law enforcement.
According to the affidavit, Joseph admitted to repeatedly engaging in inappropriate contact with a 9-year-old girl, and even told investigators:
👉 “My intentions were not pure.”
SHOCKING DETAILS:
- The incidents allegedly took place during a family vacation in 2020
- Joseph repeatedly asked the child to sit on his lap and stay close to him
- He then covered them with a blanket and began inappropriate touching
- The victim later revealed this happened multiple times, leaving her confused, uncomfortable, and scared
👉 What’s even more disturbing is that Joseph only apologized after the repeated incidents had already occurred.
FACING SERIOUS PRISON TIME:
Joseph is now expected to be extradited to Florida, where he will face charges related to lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12 — a crime that could bring up to 25 years in prison.
As if that wasn’t enough, both Joseph and his wife Kendra Duggar have also been charged with:
- 4 counts of child endangerment
- 4 counts of false imprisonment
ANOTHER DUGGAR SON IN COURT:
This marks the second major criminal case involving a Duggar son. In 2021, his older brother Josh Duggar was sentenced to 12 years in prison for crimes involving child abuse material.
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NEED TO KNOW
- Joseph Duggar confessed to molesting a 9-year-old girl in a call with the victim’s father and a detective, according to his arrest affidavit
- The reality star, 31, also “admitted his intentions were not pure,” according to the affidavit
- He and his wife Kendra are charged with 4 counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and 4 counts of false imprisonment as well
Joseph Duggar confessed to molesting a 9-year-old girl in a phone call with the child’s father and a detective with the local police department, according to an affidavit filed by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and obtained by PEOPLE.
BCSO Criminal Investigator Chase Norris writes in the affidavit that he was told Joseph had confessed to molesting the minor while speaking with her father on March 17.
That information was relayed to Norris by a detective from the Tontitown Police Department, at which time Norris “requested the detective and victim’s father call the defendant,” according to the affidavit.
Once on the phone, the affidavit states that Joseph “admitted his actions,” saying “he touched the victim over her clothing.”
Joseph also “admitted his intentions were not pure,” according to the affidavit.
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Most of the details included in the affidavit are taken from a forensic interview with the minor, who is now 14, which took place at the Tontitown Police Department.
Norris writes that after reviewing the interview, he learned that “the victim’s family traveled to Panama City Beach” in 2020 for a vacation.
At the vacation home, Joseph “asked the victim to sit on his lap, numerous times” and “would cradle the victim with his arms,” Norris writes.
Joseph then began to “ask the victim to sit on the couch” beside him according to the affidavit.
Once sitting, Joseph “covered the parties with a blanket” the affidavit says, before proceeding to “pull the victim’s dress up and touch the victim’s thighs.”
In her interview the victim said Joseph “would touch the top portions of her thighs and would inch higher and higher, closer to the victim’s waistline.”
The minor female said this happened on several occasions, and that “the defendant’s hand grazed the victim’s vagina” each time, “which made her feel uncomfortable and confused,” according to the affidavit.
Joseph “eventually approached the victim and apologized for his actions” according to the affidavit, and “the incidents stopped occurring after the defendant apologized for his actions.”
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The BCSO is now preparing to extradite Joseph from the Washington County Detention Center in Arkansas to a facility in Florida where he is expected to be arraigned on a charge of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years old conducted by a person 18 years or older.
This is now the second Duggar son who will be in court facing child sex abuse charges.
In 2021, Joseph’s oldest brother Josh, 38, was convicted by a federal grand jury of receiving and possessing material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct after investigators discovered such material on his work computer at a used car dealership he operated.
He is now serving a 12-year sentence in a Texas prison.
Joseph, who appeared on all four iterations of his family’s TLC reality series franchise, is a father of four who has been married to his wife Kendra since 2017.
His wedding to Kendra was featured in a 2017 episode of Counting On.
Now he and Kendra will also be facing state charges together as well after it was announced on Friday, March 20 that both husband and wife had been charged with four counts each of endangering the welfare of a minor ad false imprisonment.
Lawyers for the Duggar family did not respond to requests for comment.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.




