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Josh Duggar, a former reality TV star who is now a convicted sex offender, has vocally criticized the “false accusations” against his brother, Joseph Duggar. Joseph was recently taken into custody on allegations of molesting a 9-year-old girl.
Speaking via his attorney from prison, Josh expressed that he and his 31-year-old brother share a similar “stigma” following Joseph’s recent arrest in Florida on Wednesday.
“Josh understands the harsh reality of how baseless accusations can ruin lives,” his lawyer shared with the Daily Mail. “He is acutely aware of how public figures can be unfairly targeted, leading to the distortion of truth into sensational narratives.”
The former star of “19 Kids and Counting” expressed his deep sadness over the allegations against his brother, who is accused of improperly touching the young girl multiple times during a family trip to Destin, Florida, in 2020.
Joseph now faces charges of Lewd and Lascivious Behavior, which involves illegal sexual conduct with a minor.
The unidentified girl, now 14, made the disturbing claims to a detective with the Tontitown Police Department in Arkansas, asserting Duggar had repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap during the trip.
Duggar had also requested that the girl sit next to him on the couch and they would share a blanket, where he allegedly “manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals.
The then-25-year-old also allegedly rubbed his hands on the girl’s thighs on multiple occasions.
Duggar eventually stopped the alleged abuse and apologized to the girl, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The girl’s father confronted Duggar about the allegations on March 17, 2026, as the businessman admitted to him and detectives that the accusations were true.
Duggar is being held in Washington County, Arkansas, awaiting extradition to Bay County, Florida.
The siblings have not been in regular communication since Josh was sentenced to 12 years in prison for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material in 2021.
The older sibling had previously been under fire for accusations he sexually abused five girls – including sisters Jill Duggar and Jessa Duggar – in the early 2000s.
An investigation was opened into the accusations in 2006, but Josh was never charged and the statute of limitations has run out.
Josh is scheduled to be released from FCI Seagoville in Dallas, Texas, on. Dec. 23, 2032 — but is desperately fighting to appeal his sentence.
He hired a Chicago-based attorney after his request that the court provide him with a new legal team was denied, according to court papers obtained by Page Six.
The younger Duggar had supported his brother’s disturbing “secret life” during a December 2015 episode of their sisters’ show “Jill & Jessa: Counting On.”
“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.