Duggar Faces Child Molestation Charges, Bond Set at $600K

0:00On April 1, Joseph Dugger, the 31-year-old from that big TLC family show, just posted a $600,000 bond in Florida. He's facing charges of lewd molestation on a child under 12 after a first-court appearance Tuesday. Now he's clear to fly back home to Arkansas. Earlier this month, cops arrested him in Tantytown, Arkansas, then shipped him to Bay County, Jail, in Panama City, Florida. It stems from a 14-year-old girl who says Dugger molested her multiple times back when she was nine during a family beach trip there. The Dugger family blew up on 19 kids and counting, tracking their 19 kids all starting with Jay from devout Baptist parents. But the show got yanked in 2015 over scandals, and his older brother Josh got hit with a 12-and-a-half-year sentence in 20, 22 for child sexual abuse material. In court Tuesday, the judge slapped down rules, no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18. His lawyers pushing hard for fair treatment, stressing how his fame could complicate things.

1:02As Dugger heads back to Arkansas, the case keeps rolling with that no-kids rule in place, eyes wide on how celebrity plays into justice down the line. I'm Cory with the story, and you've been listening to Global News today. AI-powered global coverage.