Joseph Duggar in 'secure' area of jail after arrest on molestation charge

Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News on Mar 20, 2026

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Jail officials are carefully watching Joseph Duggar, who once starred on the TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” following his arrest for allegedly molesting a 9-year-old girl in Florida six years ago.

Duggar on Friday was being held in a “secure” area of the Washington County Jail in Arkansas while he awaits extradition to Bay County, where he’s been charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older, TMZ reported.

An unidentified supervising corporal at the detention facility said 31-year-old Duggar does not have any access to other inmates given the high-profile nature of the case. The source also confirmed they’re keeping him “under constant watch,” with guards posted near his cell and check-ins occurring on an hourly basis.

Duggar was arrested in Arkansas on Wednesday evening, after the alleged victim, who is now 14, reported the sexual assault to local authorities in Tontitow. She claimed Duggar was inappropriate with her on several occasions while she was on vacation in 2020 with her family in Panama City Beach. At one point, Duggar, in his late 20s at the time, “asked her to sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket,” the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

“During this time, Duggar manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals. Duggar would also continue to rub his hands on her thighs,” it continued.

The girl told investigators that Duggar “eventually apologized for his actions and the incidents stopped after the apology,” authorities said. He also allegedly confessed to both Tontitow authorities and the girl’s father.

Duggar starred alongside his siblings and parents on “19 Kids and Counting,” a reality show chronicling the lives of the members of their conservative family in Arkansas. It ran from 2008 to 2015 for more than 200 episodes over the course of 10 seasons.

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