Joseph Duggar, a former cast member of "19 Kids and Counting," posted a $600,000 bond after appearing in court on child molestation charges involving a girl who was 9 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.
Duggar, 31, entered a not guilty plea during a brief hearing and was released after the judge set bond at $500,000 for one charge and $100,000 for another. Court records show he is scheduled to return to court on April 20.
Prosecutors say the case involves alleged incidents during a family vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida, in 2020. The charges include lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 12 and lewd and lascivious behavior by a person over 18, according to NBC Miami.
The Bay County Sheriff's Office said the allegations came to light after a report was made in 2026 by the now-14-year-old accuser. According to KATV, investigators said Duggar asked the girl to sit on his lap and later covered them with a blanket before touching her thighs.
Duggar's release included restrictions such as no contact with the alleged victim and no unsupervised contact with minors, Fox 9 reported. The station also said he was barred from contact with anyone under 18 without supervision and expected to return to Arkansas.
The case has brought renewed attention to the Duggar family's history of public scandal. Josh Duggar, Joseph's older brother, was accused in 2015 of molesting multiple minors, including sisters, and the fallout contributed to the cancellation of "19 Kids and Counting."
Josh Duggar was later arrested on federal child sexual abuse material charges and sentenced in 2022 to 12 and a half years in prison. The earlier case and the later conviction kept the family under scrutiny and remained a major part of the network's decision to end the series, as per Today.
