Kendra Duggar, married to Joseph Duggar, has been taken into custody and is facing child endangerment charges
Content warning: Child sexual abuse is discussed in this narrative.
Upon his arrest, Kendra Duggar, Joseph's wife, is also being charged with a crime. Based on jail records accessed by news reports, the 27-year-old was detained on March 20 and charged with 4 counts of second-degree disturbing the welfare of a kid and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment.
According to a press release from Arkansas' Tontitown Police Department, Joseph, who was detained on March 18 for lewd and lascivious behavior involving unlawful sexual activity with a minor for allegedly abusing a 9-year-old girl in 2020, is also facing these additional accusations.
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The Duggars have been contacted by news organizations for comment, but they have not responded.
Only a few months after revealing their romance, Joseph and Kendra tied the knot in September 2017. The couple has four children.
Authorities stated earlier this week that they had arrested Joseph, 31, after a 14-year-old girl "participated in a forensic interview, where she disclosed several incidents" involving the former cast member of 19 Kids and Counting while on a family vacation in Florida.
"The victim reported [Joseph] repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap. As the vacation continued, he also asked her to sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket," reads a press statement issued by the Bay County Sheriff's Office in the state on March 18. "During this time, [Joseph] manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals. Duggar would also continue to rub his hands on her thighs."
As stated by officials, Joseph "eventually apologized for his actions and the incidents stopped," and when the father of the accused victim approached him the day before his arrest, Joseph "admitted his actions" to detectives.
Josh Duggar, Joseph's older brother, was convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography over five years prior to the Duggar family's most recent run-in with the authorities.
Josh "understands the stigma of being accused" after learning of his brother's incarceration, according to a lawyer for the former TLC star, who is serving a 12-year jail sentence.
Josh's attorney informed the Daily Mail that although while Josh is "not in frequent communication" with Joseph, the 38-year-old, who insists on his own innocence, "hopes and prays for his brother's well-being in this difficult time."