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Joseph Duggar has pleaded not guilty to sex crimes charges in Florida and is seeking to have his bond conditions changed to allow him to see his children.
Duggar, 31, is facing 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, according to Bay County, Fla., court records. A not guilty plea was entered for Duggar in the case Monday, court records show.
Duggar’s previous court appearance in Florida took place March 31, when he was informed of the charges against him and his bond was set at $600,000. He was ordered to have no contact with the accuser of any kind and to have no unsupervised contact with any minor. He bonded out of the Bay County jail that same day.
Albert J. Sauline, Duggar’s attorney in the case, filed a motion Sunday requesting that no-contact restriction be modified so Duggar can see his own biological children.
“The alleged child victim in this matter is not a child of the Defendant,” the motion states.
Duggar’s attorney argues the no-contact order being applied to Duggar’s own children “is creating a hardship for the family unit, as the Defendant has been unable to communicate with his own biological children” since Duggar’s first court appearance on March 31.
The motion requests the judge to modify the order to allow “these family members to have peaceful contact.”
SEX CRIMES ACCUSATIONS
Duggar’s initial arrest came after a Tontitown police detective contacted Bay County investigators regarding a report of sexual abuse, a news release from the Bay County sheriff’s office states.
The 14-year-old girl who made the report participated in a forensic interview, where she disclosed several incidents involving Duggar that occurred during a 2020 family vacation in Panama City Beach, Fla., when she was 9, the release states.
The girl reported Duggar repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap. As the vacation continued, he also asked her to sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket, at which time Duggar manipulated the girl’s underwear and grazed her genitals, according to the release. Duggar also continued to rub his hands on her thighs, the girl told police.
“The victim stated Duggar eventually apologized for his actions and the incidents stopped after the apology,” the release states.
The girl’s father confronted Duggar about these incidents, according to Tontitown police. Duggar admitted his actions to the girl’s father and Tontitown detectives, the release states.
The Tontitown Police Department, in a separate news release, reported its officers received a warrant from the Bay County sheriff’s office for Duggar about 3 p.m. March 18. The department noted the reported criminal activity did not occur in Tontitown.
“The Tontitown Police Department wants the community to know that this matter is being handled with the highest level of professionalism, compassion, and diligence,” the release states.
Duggar has a pretrial hearing set for July 14 in the case.
ARKANSAS CHARGES
Joseph and his wife, Kendra Duggar, are also facing unrelated charges in Arkansas accusing them of four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment. Tontitown police arrested Kendra Duggar later in March after Joseph Duggar’s initial arrest on the Florida charges. She was released from the Washington County jail on $1,470 bond.
Attorney Travis Story is representing the Duggars in that case and entered not guilty pleas on their behalf on April 28.
Tontitown police have not released many details about the state case because minors are involved.
“This remains an active and ongoing investigation. Arkansas law strictly limits the information that may be released in cases involving minors and other sensitive circumstances,” according to a news release from the Police Department. “To protect the integrity of the investigation and the privacy of those involved, no further details will be provided at this time.”
Additional information will be released as permitted by law and as the investigation allows, the release states.
Both Duggars have an Aug. 10 court date at 1 p.m. on the state charges.
Duggar is known for being part of his family’s cable television reality show “19 Kids and Counting” on TLC. The show, which chronicled the Duggar family’s home life, was canceled in 2015 after it became public knowledge Joshua Duggar, Joseph Duggar’s brother, confessed to molesting four of his sisters and another girl while he was a teenager. However, the statute of limitations on any offenses related to those accusations had run out.
Kendra Duggar, who appeared in 79 episodes of the “19 Kids and Counting” spinoff “Counting On” from 2015 to 2021, was Kendra Caldwell when she married Joseph Duggar in 2017. The spouses welcomed their first two children on the spinoff.
That show was canceled in 2021 after Joshua Duggar was arrested on the federal charges related to possession of child sexual abuse material.
Duggar was convicted in that case on Dec. 9, 2021, by a federal jury in Fayetteville. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks sentenced him to 12½ years in federal prison on May 25, 2022.
Duggar also was ordered to serve 20 years of supervised release after his prison term and to pay a $10,000 fine. Brooks assessed fees totaling $40,100.
He is currently seeking to appeal his conviction, contending he was denied a fair trial and his constitutional rights were violated.
Chris Swindle
Chris Swindle has been a professional journalist for about 20 years. A graduate of the Arkansas State University College of Communications, he has worked as a reporter, photographer, editor, page designer and graphic designer. He has won numerous awards for his writing and design work. He is a native Arkansan, hailing from Northeast Arkansas, but has also lived as far away as South Korea, where he taught English to schoolchildren.
