Days after Kendra Duggar was arrested, sources close to Joseph Duggar’s wife say she may face up to eight years in prison for her alleged crimes.
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Kendra was arrested on Friday and charged alongside her husband with four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of false imprisonment. Joseph was previously placed behind bars for lewd and lascivious behavior involving sexual activity with a child when she was just 9 years old.
Joseph was with the child during a 2020 trip to Panama City Beach.
Sources close to the couple revealed to PEOPLE what led to Kendra serving time at an Arkansas detention facility.
“I can tell you the arrest was a result of a home inspection,” one insider said. “And the door locks being on the exterior of the doors.”
A spokesperson for the Duggar family stated Kendra’s charges are “totally unrelated” to the felony charges her husband is facing.
“She’s not suspected or accused of participating in his alleged crime,” the spokesperson said.
Joseph’s parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, decided to lock their children in their rooms each night to protect them after learning eldest son, Josh, had molested four of his sisters in the early 2000s.
His crimes surfaced in 2015, which led to the cancellation of the family’s hit reality TV show. Josh is now serving time in prison for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
Joseph Allegedly Admitted to His Crimes
In an affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, BCSO Criminal Investigator Chase Norris stated he was told Joseph had confessed to molesting the child while speaking to her father and a detective on March 17.
Norris requested that the detective and the victim’s father call Joseph, who had allegedly “admitted his actions.” Duggar also allegedly confessed that he “touched the victim over clothing.”
Joseph also allegedly admitted that his “intentions were not pure.”
While vacationing with the child, Joseph “asked the victim to sit on his lap, numerous times.” He would. also “cradle the victim with his arms.”
When the child sat on his lap, Joseph “would touch the top portion of her thigh and would inch higher and higher, closer to the victim’s waistline.”
The victim also stated during her interview with law enforcement that he had done that on several occasions. His actions made her uncomfortable and confused.
Joseph “eventually approached the victim and apologized for his actions,” and that was when the incidents stopped.
BCSO is planning to extradite Joseph from the Washington County Detention Center in Arkansas to a facility in Florida.