Ex '19 Kids And Counting' Star Accused Of Molesting FL Girl

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL — A star on the hit TLC show "19 Kids and Counting" has been arrested on charges of molesting a 9-year-old girl, Bay County authorities said Wednesday.

Tontitown (Arkansas) Police on Wednesday arrested Joseph Garrett Duggar, 31, after a 14-year-old girl accused him of molesting her when she was age 9, the Bay County Sheriff's Office said.

Several incidents occurred during a family vacation in Panama City Beach in 2020, when the family was staying at a Danny Drive home, authorities said.

Duggar was accused of requesting the girl sit on his lap, asking her to sit with him on a couch under a blanket, manipulating her underwear, grazing her genitals and rubbing her thighs, authorities said.

The girl told detectives that Duggar later apologized, after which the incidents stopped, authorities said.

When the girl's father confronted Duggar on Tuesday, authorities said Duggar "admitted his actions to the victim’s father and to Tontitown detectives."

Duggar was arrested this week in Arkansas on charges of lewd and lascivious behavior - molestation of a victim less than 12-years-old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older, authorities said. He is awaiting extradition to Bay County, where he will face these charges.

Duggar is the second member of his family, featured on "19 Kids and Counting," to be accused of molestation.

According to a NBC News report, Josh Duggar was convicted of having child sex abuse images and was accused of molesting four of his sisters and another child. He was ultimately sentenced to 12.5 years in prison in 2022, the news outlet reported

TLC aired "19 Kids and Counting" from 2008-15. The show followed the large Duggar family, considered to be a "Christian homeschooling family," according to its IMDB.

It was canceled in 2015 after the allegations against Josh Duggar arose, NBC News reported.