Joseph Duggar Slammed Sex Offender Brother Josh Duggar Years Before He Was Also Accused of Sexual Abuse

Joseph Duggar was taken into custody on Wednesday, March 18, for allegedly sexually abusing a minor, following in the footsteps of his older brother Josh Duggar.

Years before his own arrest, however, Joseph, 31, slammed his eldest brother, 38, for his child molestation allegation, claiming he was shocked to learn Josh “was living such a 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 during a 2015 episode of Jill & Jessa: Counting On, according to Refinery29. “It broke my heart.”

In Touch broke the story in May 2015 that the eldest Duggar son was named in an underage sexual abuse probe and accused of sexually molesting several minors, two of whom were later revealed to be his sisters, Jill and Jessa Duggar.

The crimes, which took place in 2005 while Josh was still a minor, were never prosecuted due to the statute of limitations expiring. However, Josh was later arrested in April 2021 on federal charges of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material.

He was found guilty that December and sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison.

Joseph, the seventh child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, was arrested and accused of molesting a 9-year-old girl while vacationing in Panama City Beach, Florida, in 2020. He allegedly “admitted his actions” to the girl’s father and local Arkansas detectives, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.