Kendra Duggar Arrested: Child Abuse Charges for ‘19 Kids and Counting’ Star’s Wife

Kendra Duggar, wife of former reality television personality Joseph Duggar, was arrested Friday on misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child and false imprisonment, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas. The arrest comes days after Joseph Duggar was charged in Florida with lewd and lascivious behavior involving a child.

Duggar, 27, was taken into custody around 4:56 p.m. Local time and released a little more than an hour later, according to online records. She faces four counts each of endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree false imprisonment. A court hearing is scheduled for Monday.

The charges against Kendra Duggar are separate from those facing her husband, Joseph Duggar, 31, who was arrested March 18 in Tontitown, Arkansas, and is awaiting extradition to Florida. He is accused of molesting a 14-year-ancient girl during a family trip to Panama City Beach in 2020, when she was nine years old. An arrest affidavit from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida details allegations that Duggar repeatedly asked the girl to sit on his lap and inappropriately touched her.

According to the affidavit, Joseph Duggar admitted to inappropriate touching during a conversation with the girl’s father and a detective, stating his “intentions were not pure.”

The Duggar family rose to prominence with the TLC reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” which documented the lives of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 children, all whose first names begin with the letter “J.” The show was canceled in 2015 following allegations that the family’s eldest son, Josh Duggar, had molested four of his sisters as a teenager. Josh Duggar is currently imprisoned for possessing child sexual abuse images.

The family, who reside in Tontitown, Arkansas, adhered to strict Baptist principles, home-schooling their children and embracing conservative Christian values. Joseph and Kendra Duggar married in 2017 and have four children, ranging in age from three to seven. Their courtship was featured in a spin-off series, “Counting On,” which aired after the cancellation of “19 Kids, and Counting.”

Following Joseph Duggar’s arrest, Jill Duggar Dillard, a sister of Joseph, released a statement on behalf of her family. “We strongly condemn abuse,” the statement read. “We support the rule of law and hope that justice will be achieved. Our hearts go out to the innocent juvenile victim of this unspeakable crime and her family.”