New details behind Kendra Dugger’s arrest reportedly emerge
Dugger was arrested on Friday, just two days after her husband, “19 Kids and Counting” star Joseph Duggar, was arrested on child molestation charges.
Credit: Washington County Sheriff’s Department
A new report is shedding light on why 19 Kids and Counting star Joseph Duggar’s wife, Kendra Dugger, was arrested.
On Friday, Kendra was booked on four charges of endangering the welfare of a minor and four charges of false imprisonment. Joseph faces the same charges, after being arrested just two days earlier on charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older. Kendra’s alleged crimes are “totally unrelated” to Joseph’s initial booking, according to PEOPLE sources, and she’s “not suspected of participating” in that incident.
“I can tell you the arrest was a result of a home inspection, and the door locks being on the exterior of the doors,” a source close to the family told PEOPLE. Those locks were reportedly found on the rooms where their four children stay.
Credit: Little Duggar Family/Instagram
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for the Duggar family and the Tontitown Police Department for comment.
Kendra posted bail and has been released, while Joseph remains in custody, awaiting extradition to Panama City, Fla., where, during a family vacation in 2020, Duggar allegedly repeatedly asked a 9-year-old girl to get on his lap, and when she sat next to him on a couch, he covered them with a blanket and “manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals.” Authorities said that the girl, now 14, recently came forward to police, saying that Duggar apologized for his actions at the time and then stopped. Investigators revealed that the girl’s father confronted Duggar on Tuesday, and that the former reality star allegedly admitted guilt to him and detectives.
In the wake of the news, Joseph’s cousin, Amy Duggar King, spoke out on social media about the status of Joseph and Kendra’s four young children.
“I have no idea where the kids are,” she wrote on Instagram. “I just hope and pray they are being well taken care of and someone is holding them tight and that they are safe.”
These accusations are just the latest run-in with the law for the Duggar family. In 2021, Duggar’s older brother Josh Dugger was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, prompting the cancelation of 19 Kids and Counting spinoff Counting On, on which both Joseph and Kendra appeared. Josh was subsequently sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
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. 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.
