Joseph Duggar’s chilling dialogue with his victim’s father, over phone, has been revealed. The former reality TV star, who was arrested and charged this week, confessed to molesting the 9-year-old, even saying his ‘intentions were not pure’, an affidavit filed by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and obtained by PEOPLE states.
Duggar was arrested Thursday in Tontitown, Arkansas. After a court granted an extradition request, authorities in Bay County, Florida have 30 days to transfer him from the jail in Washington County, Arkansas. The 31-year-old is charged with lewd and lascivious behavior on a child under 12 years old, according to an arrest affidavit.
Authorities also took his wife, Kendra Duggar, in custody. She is facing identical charges. The 27-year-old was released on bond.
Chilling phone call
As per PEOPLE, BCSO Criminal Investigator Chase Norris, in his affidavit, stated that Joseph ‘admitted his actions’, saying “he touched the victim over her clothing.” Joseph also ‘admitted his intentions were not pure’.
The admission came during a recorded phone call on March 17, 2026, arranged at Norris’s request. A detective from the Tontitown Police Department informed Norris that Joseph had already confessed to the girl’s father. Norris then ‘requested the detective and victim’s father call the defendant’. Once on the line, the former reaity star made the incriminating statements.
‘Cradle her in his arms’
The affidavit draws heavily from a forensic interview with the now 14-year-old victim conducted at the Tontitown Police Department. She described multiple incidents at the vacation home where Joseph repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap and ‘would cradle the victim with his arms’. He later ‘asked the victim to sit on the couch’ beside him, covered them with a blanket, and ‘would pull the victim’s dress up and touch the victim’s thighs’.
The victim told interviewers Joseph ‘would touch the top portions of her thighs and would inch higher and higher, closer to the victim’s waistline’. She said ‘the defendant’s hand grazed the victim’s vagina’ on several occasions, leaving her ‘uncomfortable and confused’.
Joseph ‘eventually approached the victim and apologized for his actions’, the affidavit states, after which the incidents stopped.
Josh Duggar charges
Joseph is not the only Duggar facing child sex abuse charges. In 2021, his older brother Josh Duggar, 38, was convicted federally of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material and is serving a 12-year sentence in Texas.
On Friday, Joseph and his wife Kendra Duggar were also charged with four counts each of endangering the welfare of a minor and false imprisonment in connection with the same case.
Joseph, who appeared on multiple seasons of the Duggar family’s TLC reality shows, has been married to Kendra since 2017. They have four children; their 2017 wedding was featured on Counting On.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org. If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
