Josh Duggar of the hit reality TV show 19 Kids And Countingfame was arrested in Arkansas on Thursday, five years after he was accused of sexually assaulting five young girls as a teen. Although the charges are currently unclear, the arrest was reportedly made in connection to a 2019 raid on the used car dealership he once owned there.
According to an online profile from the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Duggar, 33, was being held without bail in Washington County. Moreover, his arrest comes just five days after his wife Anna announced that they are expecting their seventh child.
Behind the Bars
According to online government records, Duggar was arrested by the United States Marshals Service and booked into jail on Thursday afternoon. No other details about his charges are currently available online. A mugshot released by the Washington County Sheriff's Office shows Duggar looking slightly disheveled and with a smirk on his face.
According to a report in The Sun, a source said that his detention is related to a Homeland Security raid on his now-closed car dealership in Springdale, Arkansas, back in November 2019. "The family has known that this has been coming for weeks, and Josh has been preparing himself," the source said.
"Family members are extremely concerned by what is happening and they just want to find out the truth," the source further added. Interestingly, no charges were brought against the reality star in 2019 when his dealership was raided.
The source further said that the family will soon be be speaking out about the matter and said that they "hope this in many ways will bring them closer together and even closer to God." On November 20, 2019, federal agents raided Wholesale Motorcars in Springdale, Arkansas as part of what was described as an "ongoing federal investigation." Duggar too was raided the same week but he and his family has since denied the reports.
He is currently being held without bail. Duggar's arrest comes less than a week after his wife Anna announced on Instagram that she is pregnant with their seventh child, a baby girl.
Tainted Past
In a video posted to Instagram Saturday, the couple can be seen standing in a field with their six children running in the background. Duggar opens an umbrella over himself and his wife, dropping pink confetti over them. "It's a GIRL!!!!!," Anna wrote in the caption. "We are overjoyed to announce baby seven is on the way and we can't wait to hold her in our arms this fall!"
The couple have been married for 13 years and share kids Mackynzie, 11; Michael, 9; Marcus, 7; Meredith, 5; Mason, 3; and 17-month-old Maryella. However, in these 13 years, Duggar has had quite a difficult time with the law enforcement. Thursday's arrest marks his latest brush with the law.
Duggar, the eldest of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar's 19 children, rose to fame on "19 Kids and Counting," a TLC show about the family. He was first reported to police by his father in 2006 for allegedly molesting five young girls over multiple occasions back when he was 14 and 15.
Duggar was also sued by a porn star in 2015 for allegedly assaulting her during sex but the lawsuit was later dropped. Besides, he is also currently in the midst of a separate legal battle after a civil lawsuit was filed against him for real estate fraud.
Allegations against Duggar also compelled TLC to cancel the in 2015 when he was accused of molested multiple underage girls — including four of his sisters — when he was a teenager. The tainted star issued an apology and was never charged.
The same year, he was hit with another scandal after it was revealed that he used Ashley Madison, an online dating service for married people. Following that, Duggar admitted to cheating on his wife Anna, and later entered into a faith-based rehab program and attended marriage counseling.
