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A 31-year-old Arkansas man, known for formerly being a personality on a popular reality television show, has been arrested and charged in Bay County, Florida, in connection with allegations that he sexually abused a minor during a family vacation in 2020 in Panama City Beach, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.Investigators were contacted on March 18 by a detective with the Tontitown Police Department about a report of past sexual abuse, the sheriff’s office said. A 14-year-old girl later took part in a forensic interview and disclosed several incidents involving Joseph Garrett Duggar that she said happened when she was 9 years old.Joseph Duggar is known to many audiences as a member of the Duggar family, which rose to national prominence through the TLC reality television franchise “19 Kids and Counting.”Authorities said the alleged incidents occurred in 2020 while the family was staying at a residence on Danny Drive in Panama City Beach. According to investigators, the girl said Duggar repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap. She also told investigators that he later asked her to sit beside him on a couch under a blanket, where he manipulated her underwear, grazed her genitals and rubbed her thighs.The girl told investigators Duggar later apologized and that the conduct stopped afterward, authorities said.Investigators said the girl’s father confronted Duggar on March 17. During that confrontation, Duggar admitted his actions to the father and later to Tontitown detectives, according to the sheriff’s office.Duggar was arrested out of state and charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim younger than 12 and lewd and lascivious conduct by a person 18 or older, authorities said.He is awaiting extradition to Bay County.
A 31-year-old Arkansas man, known for formerly being a personality on a popular reality television show, has been arrested and charged in Bay County, Florida, in connection with allegations that he sexually abused a minor during a family vacation in 2020 in Panama City Beach, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators were contacted on March 18 by a detective with the Tontitown Police Department about a report of past sexual abuse, the sheriff’s office said. A 14-year-old girl later took part in a forensic interview and disclosed several incidents involving Joseph Garrett Duggar that she said happened when she was 9 years old.
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Joseph Duggar is known to many audiences as a member of the Duggar family, which rose to national prominence through the TLC reality television franchise “19 Kids and Counting.”
Authorities said the alleged incidents occurred in 2020 while the family was staying at a residence on Danny Drive in Panama City Beach. According to investigators, the girl said Duggar repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap. She also told investigators that he later asked her to sit beside him on a couch under a blanket, where he manipulated her underwear, grazed her genitals and rubbed her thighs.
The girl told investigators Duggar later apologized and that the conduct stopped afterward, authorities said.
Investigators said the girl’s father confronted Duggar on March 17. During that confrontation, Duggar admitted his actions to the father and later to Tontitown detectives, according to the sheriff’s office.
Duggar was arrested out of state and charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim younger than 12 and lewd and lascivious conduct by a person 18 or older, authorities said.
He is awaiting extradition to Bay County.
