Even from behind bars, Josh Duggar shared his thoughts on a brewing scandal that made his brother Joseph Duggar the subject of headlines.
The convicted offender, 38, defended his younger brother while still serving his sentence at FCI Seagoville Federal Prison in Texas.
“A family that prays together, preys together,” a social media user commented online, hinting at how the two brothers were both tied to scandals involving minors.
Highlights
- It wasn’t Josh Duggar’s name that made headlines this week. It was his brother, Joseph Duggar’s.
- From behind bars, Josh shared his thoughts on his younger sibling’s arrest in Arkansas this week.
- Joseph was arrested for inappropriately touching a minor, aged 9 at the time, on multiple occasions during a family vacation.
Josh Duggar shared his thoughts on his younger brother’s arrest all the way from prison
Image credits: Washington County Sheriff's Office
Trigger warning: this article contains graphic details that may be distressing to some.
Josh Duggar, the oldest of the Duggar siblings from 19 Kids and Counting, dismissed the allegations against his brother Joseph Duggar as “fiction.”
Joseph was arrested on March 18 for “unlawful s*xual activity with a minor,” the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement this week.
Image credits: Washington County Sheriff's Office
The alleged victim told authorities that she was inappropriately touched by the reality TV star on multiple occasions during a family vacation in Florida.
Joseph confessed to the disturbing crimes. Yet, big brother Josh said he believes the accusations were false.
The older sibling is currently serving time for receiving and possessing material depicting children engaging in s*xually explicit content.
The oldest Duggar family sibling conveyed that he was “deeply saddened” by Joseph’s arrest
Image credits: littleduggarfamily
Josh conveyed through his attorney that he was “deeply saddened” by the recent charges against his brother. He “understands the stigma of being accused,” his lawyer told the Daily Mail. “He lives with the painful reality of how false accusations can destroy a life.”
The attorney claimed that the two Duggar brothers were not in frequent communication. But Josh understood how “the targeting of a person for publicity can twist the truth into sensationalized fiction,” the attorney said.
The convicted offender “hopes and prays for his brother's well-being in this difficult time.”
Josh believed the allegations against Joseph were “sensationalized fiction,” his lawyer said
Image credits: D Dipasupil/Getty Images
As per a statement shared by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, Joseph was on a family vacation in Florida in 2020 when he allegedly touched a minor girl inappropriately. The girl was 9 at the time.
While staying at a residence on Danny Drive in Panama City Beach, Joseph allegedly asked the child repeatedly to sit on his lap and, on one occasion, asked her to sit beside him on a couch.
Joseph then covered them with a blanket and “manipulated the victim’s underwear.”
He also allegedly touched her private parts and rubbed his hands on her thighs, the sheriff’s office said.
The victim later told authorities that the ab*sive behavior stopped, with Joseph apologizing to her.
Image credits: littleduggarfamily
The incident took a legal turn after the victim’s father confronted Joseph on March 17, 2026.
Joseph “admitted his actions” to the father and to law enforcement officials, leading to him being “charged with lewd and lascivious behavior – m*lestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older,” the sheriff’s office said.
The alleged victim, now 14, participated in a forensic interview and spoke about several incidents with Joseph during the family vacation.
Joseph confessed to repeatedly touching the minor girl inappropriately while speaking to her father
Image credits: TLC
Joseph was arrested in Arkansas, where he lives with his wife Kendra (née Caldwell), and their four children: Garrett, 7, and daughters Addison, 6, and Brooklyn, 4. The identity of their fourth child has not been publicly disclosed.
It is believed Joseph will be extradited to Bay County, Florida.
Both Joseph and Josh’s lives were telecast on the long-running show 19 Kids and Counting, which followed their ultra-conservative parents, Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar.
19 Kids and Counting was axed after allegations of Josh behaving inappropriately with five children came to light
Image credits: littleduggarfamily
The show ran for 10 seasons, from 2008 to 2015, until it was axed after allegations about Josh Duggar having behaved inappropriately with five children came to light.
Four of the victims were his own sisters, including Jill Duggar and Jessa Duggar.
Josh never faced charges for his behavior with minors. He was investigated in 2019 by Homeland Security Investigators (HSI) for allegedly downloading “child s*xual ab*se material,” federal prosecutors said.
Image credits: littleduggarfamily
“[Josh] allegedly possessed this material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12,” they added.
The disgraced star was sentenced to 12 and a half years in federal prison in 2022.
Josh and his wife, Anna, were married in 2008 and have four daughters, Mackynzie, Meredith, Maryella, and Madyson, and three sons, Michael, Marcus, and Mason.
“It broke my heart,” Joseph said years back about the allegations against Josh, saying he was surprised by his brother’s “secret life”
Joseph had addressed the allegations against Josh on a 2015 episode of the spinoff show Jill & Jessa: Counting On. “It broke my heart,” he said, adding he was surprised by his brother’s “secret life.”
“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,” Joseph said.
Netizens were surprised to see Josh’s comments following his younger brother’s arrest, asking: “What the hell is HE speaking out for?”
“Makes you wonder what actually went on in that house,” one said. Another wrote, “HE ADMITTED TO IT. More than once!”
“Okay but Joseph admitted guilt so where is Josh coming up with ‘false accusations’?” said another. One said, “No on [sic] wants to hear from that man.”
“The fact that his brother confessed and he thinks it’s just a lie and they’re out to get them for publicity,” read one comment online
