Jill Duggar reacts to brother Joseph's arrest in latest family scandal

Jill Duggar Dillard is responding to accusations against her brother, fellow "19 Kids and Counting" star Joseph Duggar.

In the Dillards' longstanding blog, the family said it was "shocked" to learn of Duggar's arrest. Duggar, 31, was charged with lewd and lascivious behavior involving sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl, who was 9 at the time of the alleged incident, the Bay County Sheriff's Office in Florida announced Wednesday, March 18.

The reality-TV alum admitted to his actions to law enforcement in the city of Tontitown in northern Washington County, Arkansas, after the child's father confronted Duggar about the incidents on March 17, according to the sheriff's office.

"We first learned of anything related to his charges yesterday via a text from a friend who messaged us about the recent media reports of Joseph's arrest and his alleged confession to molesting a juvenile female in 2020," the Dillard family wrote in a blog post Thursday, March 19. "We are shocked and heartbroken."

During a forensic interview, the child disclosed several moments involving Duggar during a 2020 family vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida, the sheriff's office said. In one of these alleged instances, Duggar repeatedly asked the child to sit on his lap, and in another manipulated the child's underwear and grazed her genitals on a couch and under a blanket.

The child said Duggar, who was the seventh oldest of 19 siblings on the TLC reality series, later apologized for his actions and no other incidents occurred, per the sheriff's office.

USA TODAY could not determine an attorney representing Duggar by the time of publication and has reached out to the Duggar family for comment.

"We strongly condemn abuse," the blog post continued. "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. We pray God gives her strength, comfort and hope, and that she is able to get all the help and support she needs and deserves in the days ahead."

The family also shared words for Duggar's wife, Kendra, and their four children. "We love our sister-in-law, Kendra, and our four nieces and nephews and pray that they feel loved and supported during this time as we cannot imagine the indescribable pain they feel as they process and grieve everything," they wrote, followed by the Bible verses Isaiah 1:17 and Psalm 34:18.

Joseph Duggar arrest follows years of family legal troubles

TLC's "19 Kids and Counting," formerly "17 Kids and Counting" and "18 Kids and Counting," followed Arkansas couple Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar and their large conservative family.

The series was canceled in 2015 following revelations that the oldest sibling, Josh Duggar, had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter when he was a teen. The spinoff series, "Counting On," was canceled in 2021 following Josh's arrest on child pornography charges. The following year, he was sentenced to 151 months, over 12 years, in prison and fined $10,000.

Jill Duggar Dillard, who was one of Josh's victims, said she felt obligated to defend her brother Josh against sex abuse claims. In 2020, she revealed that there was "some distancing" between her and her family, saying they were "not on the best terms" amid "disagreements," but that they were "working toward healing definitely and restoration."

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support in English and Spanish via chat and at 800-656-4673.

Contributing: Melina Khan, USA TODAY