Joy-Anna Duggar Says Joseph’s Arrest Has Been the ‘Hardest Time I’ve Ever Gone Through’

Two months after her brother’s arrest on child molestation charges, Joy-Anna Duggar is being open about her pain and the toll it has taken on her family.

During the Wednesday, May 27 episode of The Jinger & Jeremy Podcast, Joy-Anna, 28, joined her older sister Jinger Duggar Vuolo  for an emotional conversation about how they have been coping since Joseph Duggar was taken into custody in March.

As In Touch first reported, Joseph, 31, is facing two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior in connection with an alleged 2020 incident involving a then-9-year-old girl during a family vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Joy-Anna did not mince words about her emotional state, telling her sister on the podcast that “it’s probably been the hardest time I’ve ever gone through.” She added, “I think we’re all grieving in different ways,” and described the weight of each passing day as feeling “so heavy.”

While Joy-Anna acknowledged that “certain things have gotten lighter” over time, she was candid about the difficulty she continues to face. “I’ve really been struggling, honestly,” she said, adding that leaning on her faith has been both a challenge and a comfort during this period.

Jinger, 32, echoed those feelings, noting that “you can’t plan for something like this.” Joy-Anna agreed, explaining that she has had to “grab on to the positive things, because it’s been super hard and super dark and really heavy.”

Joy-Anna also addressed the complicated question of how much to discuss online, revealing that the public scrutiny has added another layer of difficulty. “I feel like the more I talk about it publicly, the more it just gets, like, rubbed in our faces,” she said on the episode. “I kind of want to just move on with life in some ways.”

Joseph was released from custody on March 31 after posting a six-figure bond. He has been ordered to have no contact with his accuser, who is now 14, and no unsupervised contact with any minors under 18 — including his four young children.

Joseph and his wife, Kendra Duggar, 27, are also facing separate charges in Arkansas — four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of false imprisonment. Both have pleaded not guilty. Joseph and Kendra share sons Garrett, 7, and Justus, 3, and daughters Addison, 6, and Brooklyn, 5.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.