Former reality TV star Joseph Duggar was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl.

Duggar, 31, is accused of repeatedly engaging in illegal sexual activity with the alleged victim, now 14, while vacationing with the girl’s family in Panama City Beach, Florida, in 2020, according to multiple reports.

He was arrested near his home in Tontitown, Arkansas, and is currently awaiting extradition to Bay County, Florida, where he will face charges of lewd and lascivious conduct, as well as sexual abuse of a victim under the age of 12.

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office released a statement on social media about the ongoing investigation Wednesday. According to the statement, Duggar “repeatedly asked [the victim] sit on his lap” during the vacation, and later “manipulated the victim’s underwear and rubbed her genitals.” He “also continued to rub her thighs with his hands.”

Duggar would have been 26 years old at the time of the alleged incidents. The sheriff’s office statement also indicated that Duggar admitted his actions to the victim’s father and Tontitown detectives.

The Washington County, Arkansas, sheriff’s office released Duggar’s mugshot hours after his arrest.

This booking photo provided by the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Arkansas shows Joseph Duggar on March 18.
This booking photo provided by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas shows Joseph Duggar on March 18.

via News

Duggar, along with her parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, and her 18 siblings, rose to fame in 2008 as the stars of the TLC reality series, “19 Kids and Counting.”

The Arkansas family was part of an ultraconservative religious group, the Institute of Basic Living Principles, and adhered to strict rules that included dressing modestly and homeschooling their children.

The series was canceled in 2015 when Josh Duggar, the eldest of the Duggar children, was accused of sexually abusing his sisters, Jill and Jessa, along with three other girls, when he was a teenager. He would later acknowledge that he had “acted in an unforgivable manner” and apologize for what he described as “my misconduct.”

A spin-off series, “Counting On,” premiered in 2015 without Josh’s involvement. However, that show was canceled in 2021 after Josh was found guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography. He is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence.

On Wednesday, a 2015 video of Joseph Duggar discussing Josh’s arrest began circulating on social media.

“I don’t think any of us would have known that my brother lives such a secret life,” he says in the clip.

Watch a report from “Entertainment Tonight” on Duggar’s arrest below.

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