Joseph Duggar and his wife, Kendra Duggar, have reunited one day after his release from jail.
Lawyer Albert J. Sauline III told People on Wednesday, April 8, that the pair were together after Joseph posted a $600,000 bail and was subsequently released from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
Joseph flew home to Arkansas with father Jim Bob Duggar, who arrived in Florida three days before his son’s first court hearing, Sauline said.
The lawyer said that it took more than three days for Joseph to arrive in Bay County after he was released from custody in Arkansas on March 27. Sauline explained the delay was due, in part, to the former reality TV star being one of the first to be picked up by Florida officials in a cross-country trip to retrieve people being extradited to the state.
In March, Joseph was arrested on suspicion of lewd and lascivious behavior involving molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older. His arrest after a 14-year-old girl alleged he molested her in 2020 when they were on a vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida.
While Joseph initially declined to enter a plea while appearing in court virtually on March 20, and waived his right to an extradition hearing, days later he entered a written plea of not guilty. Per records viewed by Us Weekly at the time, Joseph also requested a jury trial.
Two days after Joseph’s arrest, Kendra was also arrested and released that same day on a $1,470 bond. Joseph and Kendra are both facing charges of endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment.
A source with knowledge of the case exclusively told Us in March that Kendra’s arrest “has nothing to do with Joseph’s” molestation charge, claiming that “one precipitated the other.”
“After his charge, they automatically do a home study if minors live there. They came to her house,” the insider said. “Apparently, they had two rooms where the lock of the doorknob was on the outside instead of inside. They arrested her and took her kids for that, saying it’s evidence that she wrongly detains her kids.”
A spokesperson for the Duggar family told Us in a statement, “[Kendra’s] is a misdemeanor charge totally unrelated to the Florida case.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
