FL - Second Duggar Son Joseph Garrett Duggar, 31, Arrested for Crimes Against a Minor, 18 March 2026

[Goecke]

MOO is that people raise their children, doing the best that they can. When their adult children commit crime, it seems unfair to blame parents, or their
religion. As many of the other children in the family have not been accused of illegal activity. And the religion does not encourage or support any type of illegal activity.

IMO, the parents and religion take some of the blame here, but not all of it.
While the religion doesn't support or encourage anything illegal, it views ALL vaguely sexual acts outside of marriage as equally as bad. In this religion, m*sturbating, watching adult material, or kissing another consenting adult outside of marriage is just as bad as sexually assaulting a child. Being raised with those beliefs, it doesn't surprise me that two out of the ten(?) boys became child predators. As for the parents, they protected Josh when he assaulted his sisters as a teen, which couldn't have been a good influence on the other boys.

 

[K9Enzo]

We’ll see if LE is able to get a search warrant for his electronics to see what he’s downloaded and searched. IMO

 

[mickey2942]

I am interested in what will happen with the confession, to the father of the victim. On the telephone, being recorded with a police detective listening in on the conversation.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20260319/celebrities/former-19-kids-and-counting-star-joseph-duggar-is-arrested-on-a-child-molestation-charge/

"The girl’s father confronted Duggar about the abuse this week, and the father said Duggar admitted to it. Police officers in Tontitown had the father call Duggar with a detective on the line, and he again admitted to the actions, the arrest affidavit said.".

That seems to be quite a slippery slope here. Unless Duggar was aware law enforcement was on the line listening. And knew that his statements could incriminate him.

I am not defending Duggar, what he did was inexcusable. I just want to make sure he was processed according to the law.

I don't like the news, adding this case to Josh Duggar's case. They are separate. And should be kept separated.

It does make me wonder how many other children he has perpetrated on. I doubt that there was only one victim.

His wife and children are going to be part of this mess. Dragged into a situation no one wants any part of. Should CPS question his children?

 

[gitana1]

I am interested in what will happen with the confession, to the father of the victim. On the telephone, being recorded with a police detective listening in on the conversation.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20260319/celebrities/former-19-kids-and-counting-star-joseph-duggar-is-arrested-on-a-child-molestation-charge/

"The girl’s father confronted Duggar about the abuse this week, and the father said Duggar admitted to it. Police officers in Tontitown had the father call Duggar with a detective on the line, and he again admitted to the actions, the arrest affidavit said.".

That seems to be quite a slippery slope here. Unless Duggar was aware law enforcement was on the line listening. And knew that his statements could incriminate him.

I am not defending Duggar, what he did was inexcusable. I just want to make sure he was processed according to the law.

I don't like the news, adding this case to Josh Duggar's case. They are separate. And should be kept separated.

It does make me wonder how many other children he has perpetrated on. I doubt that there was only one victim.

His wife and children are going to be part of this mess. Dragged into a situation no one wants any part of. Should CPS question his children?

Using a wire tap or wire to record incriminatory statements has been an accepted means of gathering evidence for a long, long time. It is legal. No slope. We’ve already skied fast down that hill.

 

[MarciB]

This is insane. Two child predators in that family that we know of now... I'm glad he's been arrested and isn't getting away with this. Poor victim.

a lot of powerful people still support the Duggars, so who knows?

 

[303gmf]

a lot of powerful people still support the Duggars, so who knows?

Huckabee’s

 

[gitana1]

The 31-year-old, who was detained Wednesday over an alleged crime that took place in 2020, spoke out against Josh’s sexual abuse of five girls — including sisters Jill Duggar and Jessa Duggar — on a December 2015 episode of “Jill & Jessa: Counting On.”

At the time, he said, “Whenever somebody you respect the most is willing to get up and proclaim what we believe as Christians, about being true to your wife, you’d never think that that’s the person who’s involved in it.”

Sharing his surprise that Josh “was living such a secret life,” Joseph added, “It broke my heart.”
What Joseph Duggar said about brother Josh’s sex abuse crimes years before molestation arrest

uh huh

ETA what I find most disturbing about the above isn't even that Joseph acted all holier than thou and surprised. It's that what he felt was disappointing about knowing his brother's behavior wasn't that he was molesting their sisters and collection SA material featuring CHILDREN. NO, It was that Joshua had been "untrue" to his wife. WTF?!

This in a nutshell tells me everything I need to know about how the Duggars raised their children, and how many of those children are likely raising their own. JMO

Yes. That is the problem. They view the abuse of children to be unfaithfulness. Not an abhorrent crime against nature.

 

[gitana1]

Holy smokes. This guy seems totally unconcerned in his intake video. What the heck!

 

[MarciB]

Huckabee’s

yep

 

[Mack the Knife]

That's true, but it DOES NOT cause sexual abuse of any kind. It does allow perpetrators of SA to get away with it more easily.

I disagree with this. It’s perfectly normal and natural for pubescent kids to start to have sexual thoughts/feelings/desires. If they’re taught that those thoughts are evil and sinful, it should be no surprise when they start to try and figure things out on their own, and some of those ways are inevitably going to be harmful to themselves or others. IMO, it’s not much different than when kids aren’t taught to manage their emotions and some learn to deal with big feelings only through violence.

This will surely be a hot take, but I have always thought that it was possible that if Josh had gotten help as a teenager, real actual help, he might not have continued down the path that lead him to possess CSAM or commit any other offenses against children that the public may not be aware of. Maybe Josh is a born pedophile and maybe Joseph is too, but I think it’s far more likely that children are just convenient targets of abuse. I can’t imagine anyone here thinks that either man is particularly nice to their wives.

 

[Ruminations]

I disagree with this. It’s perfectly normal and natural for pubescent kids to start to have sexual thoughts/feelings/desires. If they’re taught that those thoughts are evil and sinful, it should be no surprise when they start to try and figure things out on their own, and some of those ways are inevitably going to be harmful to themselves or others. IMO, it’s not much different than when kids aren’t taught to manage their emotions and some learn to deal with big feelings only through violence.

This will surely be a hot take, but I have always thought that it was possible that if Josh had gotten help as a teenager, real actual help, he might not have continued down the path that lead him to possess CSAM or commit any other offenses against children that the public may not be aware of. Maybe Josh is a born pedophile and maybe Joseph is too, but I think it’s far more likely that children are just convenient targets of abuse. I can’t imagine anyone here thinks that either man is particularly nice to their wives.

Not hot. Every child involved with Josh's earliest episodes of abusing was wrong.

Especially the victims were wronged.

But that does not mean Josh was not wronged, too.

And not surprisingly, Joe got the wrong message about the ordeal as well.

Am I feeling compelled to go heal Josh or Joes inner children? No. Yuck. Don't want to even think about them. But that does not mean they were not wronged.

MOO

 

[TMich6811]

Not hot. Every child involved with Josh's earliest episodes of abusing was wrong.

Especially the victims were wronged.

But that does not mean Josh was not wronged, too.

And not surprisingly, Joe got the wrong message about the ordeal as well.

Am I feeling compelled to go heal Josh or Joes inner children? No. Yuck. Don't want to even think about them. But that does not mean they were not wronged.

MOO

It’s important to acknowledge it because it’s how we fix it.

We cannot just say they are monsters, throw away the key, and then assume society will automatically fix the things that made them monsters on their own. Clearly we don’t care about monsters enough as it is.

The why matters as difficult as it is to talk about.

A why and acknowledgement that they were failed can occur while also acknowledging they were bad people

 

[killarney rose]

It’s possible that they were born abusers but much more highly likely that something was done to them, or that they were exposed to something that caused them to turn out that way. I have a feeling it’s deep in that family.

 

[K9Enzo]

https://people.com/jill-duggar-dill...gar-arrest-child-molestation-charges-11929740

On Thursday, March 19, Jill and her family then addressed the accusations in a post on the Dillard Family blog, writing, “We were shocked yesterday evening to learn of Jill’s brother (Joseph Duggar’s) arrest."

Jill’s family’s post added, “We first learned of anything related to his charges yesterday via a text from a friend who messaged us about the recent media reports of Joseph’s arrest and his alleged confession to molesting a juvenile female in 2020. We are shocked and heartbroken.”

The message continued, “We strongly condemn abuse. We support the rule of law and hope that justice will be achieved. Our hearts go out to the innocent juvenile victim of this unspeakable crime and her family,” adding, “We pray God gives her strength, comfort and hope, and that she is able to get all the help and support she needs and deserves in the days ahead.”

The family also mentioned Joseph’s wife, Kendra, in the statement, and the four kids that they share together.

The Dillard family blog post said, “We love our sister-in-law, Kendra, and our four nieces and nephews and pray that they feel loved and supported during this time as we cannot imagine the indescribable pain they feel as they process and grieve everything,” concluding with lines from two Bible verses.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

MOO is that people raise their children, doing the best that they can. When their adult children commit crime, it seems unfair to blame parents, or their
religion. As many of the other children in the family have not been accused of illegal activity. And the religion does not encourage or support any type of illegal activity.

What if the children were raised in an abusive environment, such that normal attachments and empathy don't develop properly? What if the church encourages counseling within the church and discourages reporting to police?

So I was shocked to hear about Joe's arrest. Joe was an 18 year old ADULT abusing a child under age 12. Just disgusting to say the least.

Wouldn't he have been in his mid-20s when he did this predatory abuse? In was in 2020 and he is 31 now. So he was well into adulthood...

 

[Vaderman]

I was thinking about a new documentary.

"Two Imprisoned: And Counting!"

 

[HerNameWasBuffy]

What if the children were raised in an abusive environment, such that normal attachments and empathy don't develop properly? What if the church encourages counseling within the church and discourages reporting to police?



Wouldn't he have been in his mid-20s when he did this predatory abuse? In was in 2020 and he is 31 now. So he was well into adulthood...

He was 26 when it happened. Hopefully this will quelle a lot of apologists chalking it up to teenage stuff like with their first felon.

I haven't hate read about the Duggars in years, but seeing the news I can only hope Jim Bob and Michelle are at least able to feel public humiliation despite having no real sense of shame or decency.

 

[gitana1]

He was 26 when it happened. Hopefully this will quelle a lot of apologists chalking it up to teenage stuff like with their first felon.

I haven't hate read about the Duggars in years, but seeing the news I can only hope Jim Bob and Michelle are at least able to feel public humiliation despite having no real sense of shame or decency.

I have no hope for them. But I would love for their children and their children’s cohort to realize that the way they were raised - the attitudes about sex, the body, submission, unquestioning obedience, sexual abuse, therapy- was dangerous and should not be repeated.

 

[Blurgle]

It's time Jim Bob and Michelle take a long hard look at themselves and realize they messed up.

Oh, please. These people don't think women and girls are fully human; that's what they're there for, to be used.

The ONLY reason, EVER, that people are taught to be submissive is to make them into better victims. Anyone who claims otherwise is a malevolent liar.

 

[Izzylizzy]

I really really really doubt he molested a child outside of the family but didn’t touch any of the easily accessible, unsupervised children in the home…

You just don't wake up one day at 26 yrs old and decide to molest a 9 yr old child.
imo