Reality TV star posts $600,000 bond in Florida child molestation case

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Reality TV star Joseph Duggar posted a US$600,000 bond Tuesday and is flying home to Arkansas after making a first appearance in Florida on molestation charges involving a child under the age of 12, his attorney said.

Duggar was arrested earlier this month in Arkansas and was transferred to the Bay County Jail in Panama City, Florida, to face charges of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child under 12 and lewd and lascivious contact.

Judge Brantley Clark on Tuesday also barred Duggar, 31, from having unsupervised contact with any person under 18, court documents show.

Duggar, who starred with his parents and siblings in TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” was arrested March 18 in Tontitown, Arkansas, after police officers interviewed a 14-year-old girl who told them Duggar had molested her several times during a family trip to Panama City Beach, Florida, when she was 9.

The girl’s father told police in Arkansas that he confronted Duggar about the abuse and Duggar admitted to it, an arrest affidavit said. Police officers in Tontitown had the father call Duggar with a detective on the line, and he again admitted to the actions, according to the affidavit.

Albert Sauline, who is representing Duggar on the Florida charges, said Duggar posted bond and was scheduled to fly home to Arkansas later Tuesday.

“Our No. 1 goal is to make sure he is treated fairly,” especially because of his celebrity status, Sauline said.

Separately, authorities in Arkansas filed charges against Duggar and his wife, Kendra Duggar, 27, according to Tontitown police. The charges include four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of false imprisonment. The Duggar family has not responded to requests for comment about the charges.

Duggar’s older brother Josh Duggar was convicted in 2022 of downloading child sexual abuse videos. He was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison.

TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” followed the lives of devout Baptists Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar and their 19 children, all of whose names began with the letter J.

TLC cancelled the show in 2015 after allegations that Josh Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter years earlier. Josh Duggar’s parents said he had confessed to the fondling and apologized.

Freida Frisaro, The Associated Press