Josh Duggar, former cast member on the long-running TLC show 19 Kids and Counting, was reportedly arrested by U.S. Marshals on Thursday in Washington County, Arkansas, according to BuzzFeed News. What he’s been arrested for, however, is currently unclear. According to his online detainee profile, the former reality star is being held without bond by a federal agency. The FBI denied involvement in the case, while Washington County Sheriff’s Office officials referred BuzzFeed News’s questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which has yet to release any information on the charges leveled against Duggar.
19 Kids and Counting, which ran for seven years on the network, followed Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar as they raised their 19 children as devout Baptists in Tontitown, Arkansas. In 2015, the series was abruptly suspended, then canceled, after In Touch published a report alleging Josh Duggar had molested five girls when he was a teenager, including several of his sisters, behavior Duggar publicly confirmed and apologized for, saying he had “acted inexcusably.†Later that same year, Duggar, who is married, called himself “the biggest hypocrite ever†when his paid subscription to the Ashley Madison dating site was leaked as a part of a larger data hack.
In November 2015, porn actress Danica Dillion filed a lawsuit against Duggar for allegedly assaulting her in a Philadelphia strip club, though she opted to dismiss the lawsuit the following year. According to TMZ, in November 2019, Homeland Security reportedly raided the car dealership where Duggar works in connection to a federal probe. Additionally, they report, the former reality star is allegedly involved in “a civil lawsuit filed against him for real-estate fraud.†We’ll update this post as new information becomes available.
Update, April 30, 1:40 p.m.: Duggar has been charged with one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography, according to People. The reality star pleaded not guilty on April 30 in Arkansas; the charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years each. People cited a press release saying Duggar’s arrest pertains to downloading material related to the sexual abuse of children, “some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12,†in May 2019. Duggar will face a bond hearing in the coming days, and if he posts bail, he won’t be able to live with any minors ahead of the trial, the judge reportedly told him.