Joseph Duggar

Duggar was born on January 20, 1995, in Tontitown, Arkansas, as the seventh child and the third son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. He was homeschooled growing up and obtained his GED at the age of 16. He attended Crown College in Minnesota for one year.^[3]

Duggar first appeared on television during the documentary 14 Children and Pregnant Again in 2004, which aired on the Discovery Health Channel. Later documentaries about the family include Raising 16 Children and On the Road with 16 Children, which featured insights into their daily lives.^[4][5][6]

In 2008, 19 Kids and Counting (formerly 18 Kids and Counting and 17 Kids and Counting) began on TLC as a regular series based on the Duggar family.^[7] The show was later cancelled in 2015, following the publication of police report from 2006 regarding his brother, Josh, who had molested several underage girls, including many of his sisters.^[8][9]

Duggar also featured in spinoff show, Counting On, which aired from 2015 to 2020, and was cancelled due to his brother, Josh, being arrested for receiving and possessing child pornography.

After attending Crown College, Duggar returned to Arkansas. He later obtained a real estate license in Tontitown and formed a company called Good Neighbor Realty.^[10]

On March 18, 2026, Joseph Duggar was arrested and charged with several counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor. The charges relate to an incident in 2020 when he allegedly molested an unnamed girl, then nine years old, while in the state of Florida.^[11] On March 20, 2026, Duggar waived his right to an extradition hearing in Arkansas, which set in motion his transfer to Florida to face a child molestation charge.^[12]

Joseph and his wife, Kendra Duggar, were arrested and charged with multiple counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and with false imprisonment on March 20, 2026.^[13] Kendra Duggar was released on $1,470 bond, later that same day.^[14] Both parents were ordered not to have contact with the involved children. ^[15]

On March 31, 2026, Duggar appeared in a Florida courtroom. He was informed of the charges against him and of his arraignment date. Duggar was ordered to have no contact of any kind with the accuser and no unsupervised contact with any minor, including his own children.^[16] He was released the same day on $600,000 bond.^[17]

On April 17, 2026, the judge dissolved Kendra Duggar's no-contact order.^[18]

On April 28, 2026, an attorney for Joseph and Kendra Duggar entered not guilty pleas on their behalf. ^[19]

On May 18, 2026, a hearing was held in Florida for the sexual abuse charges. A not guilty plea was entered. Judge Brantley Clark set a pretrial hearing for July 14, 2026, in the Bay County Circuit Court, at which he planned to address Duggar's request to be allowed to see his own children.^[20]

On June 16, 2026, Joseph Duggar appeared remotely in a Florida courtroom regarding two motions filed a month earlier. The first motion asked permission for Duggar to work on several rental properties that he owns. Doing so would place Duggar within 500 feet of his alleged victim. The second motion was for unsupervised contact with his children. The judge denied both motions, noting that Duggar is permitted supervised contact with his children.^[21]

Joseph married Kendra Renée Caldwell on September 8, 2017 at the First Baptist Church in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.^[22] The couple have four children.