What Joseph Duggar Said About Brother Josh’s Child Sxx Abuse Crimes Years Before His Own Molestation Allegations

More than a decade before he was arrested on charges of chi|d molestation, Joseph Duggar spoke out against alleged sexual abuse committed by his older brother, Josh Duggar. On Wednesday, March 18, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office announced the 31-year-old former 19 Kids and Counting star faced charges of molesting of a 9-year-old girl during a 2020 vacation in Panama City Beach, Fla.

Years earlier, in 2015, Joseph condemned Josh’s behavior after Josh, now 38 years old, was accused of sexually abusing five girls, including his sisters Jill (Duggar) Dillard and Jessa (Duggar) Seewald.

“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 in a December 2015 promo clip for a then-upcoming three-part special airing on TLC titled Jill & Jessa: Counting On.

“It broke my heart,” Joseph added, noting that he was surprised that Josh “was living such a secret life.”

Amid the 2015 allegations, Josh admitted that he had “acted inexcusably” and “hurt others, including my family and close friends.”

“I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation,” Josh said in a 2015 statement. “We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling. I understood that if I continued down this wrong road that I would end up ruining my life.”

Six years later, in December 2021, Josh was found guilty of two charges of knowingly receiving and possessing chi|d p*rnography. He was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison in May 2022.

The Department of Justice previously announced that in May 2019, Josh allegedly used the “dark web and online file-sharing software” to download “chi|d sxxual abuse material from the internet multiple times.”

Their brother, John-David Duggar, also weighed in on the allegations against Josh in 2015, adding, “I always wanted to be like him. But one of the toughest things I ever had to tell my older brother was, ‘I don’t want to be like you anymore.'”

On March 18, PEOPLE confirmed Joseph was booked into the Washington County, Ark., jail at 3:59 p.m. local time, and is awaiting extradition to Bay County to face the charges. In their statement, police said Joseph was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim younger than 12 years old, and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older.

The victim, who is now 14 years old, allegedly told investigators “Duggar repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap. As the vacation continued, he also asked her to sit next to him on a couch and covered them with a blanket. During this time, Duggar manipulated the victim’s underwear and grazed her genitals. Duggar would also continue to rub his hands on her thighs.”

She also allegedly told investigators that he eventually stopped after apologizing to her.