Joseph Duggar posted a $600,000 bond Tuesday in Florida following his first court appearance in a child molestation case, his attorney said, and was expected to fly back to Arkansas. Duggar, 31, faces Florida charges tied to allegations involving a child under 12, according to an arrest affidavit described by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Panama City, Florida.
Duggar was arrested earlier this month in Arkansas and was transferred to the Bay County Jail in Panama City to face the Florida counts. In Florida, he faces charges of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child under 12 and lewd and lascivious contact. The case is part of the continuing Florida proceedings after he was charged in the state, which MSI previously reported on in a developing set of court actions. MSI previously reported that Joseph Duggar waived extradition to face child molestation charges in Florida.
According to the affidavit, Duggar was arrested March 18 in Tontitown, Arkansas, after police officers interviewed a 14-year-old girl who said Duggar molested her several times during a family trip to Panama City Beach, Florida, when she was 9. The affidavit also described that the girl’s father confronted Duggar in Arkansas, and that Duggar admitted to the conduct, with officers later having the father call Duggar while a detective was on the line and Duggar again admitting to the actions.
After his Tuesday appearance, Duggar’s attorney, Albert Sauline, said Duggar posted bond and was scheduled to fly home to Arkansas later Tuesday. Sauline said, “Our No. 1 goal is to make sure he is treated fairly,” especially because of his celebrity status.
Court documents also showed that Judge Brantley Clark barred Duggar from having unsupervised contact with any person under 18. The attorney’s statement came as Duggar remained in the Florida case after his initial appearance in the Bay County matter.
Separately, the arrest described by Tontitown police said Arkansas authorities filed additional charges against Duggar and his wife, Kendra Duggar, 27. Those charges, according to Tontitown police, 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, according to the reporting. Duggar’s brother, Josh Duggar, was convicted in 2022 of downloading child sexual abuse videos and was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison, the reporting said.
Duggar previously starred in TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” which followed Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar and their 19 children, all with names beginning with “J.” TLC canceled the show in 2015 after allegations that Josh Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter years earlier, and Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar previously said he had confessed to the fondling and apologized.