On July 14th, 2026, Joseph Duggar had another court appearance. There was no filming of this hearing. Today’s hearing identified five witnesses, including the victim.
According to Bay County, Fla. (KNWA/KFTA) court documents, a new hearing has been set for ‘Counting On‘ star Joseph Duggar’s Florida case involving accusations of inappropriately touching a minor. Duggar, 31, is accused of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim younger than 12 (a “life felony” in Florida) and lewd and lascivious conduct by a person 18 or older.
On July 14, the former 19 Kids and Counting star failed to show up for his pretrial hearing. Joao Ferreira, the lawyer representing the state of Florida in the case, and Albert Sauline, his attorney, did show up in court.
September 15 is the next hearing date
According to Sauline, the state has gotten “all of the discovery” in this case from Arkansas. He stated that the alleged victim is one of five witnesses in the case. Judge Brantley S. Clark scheduled a follow-up hearing for September 15 at 9:00 a.m.
On March 18, a Tontitown police detective contacted Bay County investigators about a report of prior sexual abuse, sparking the start of the investigation. According to Bay County authorities, the alleged victim told forensic interviewers that the incidents happened at a rental house on Danny Drive during a family vacation in Panama City Beach in 2020 when she was younger than ten.
The alleged victim claimed that Duggar repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap and, as the vacation went on, asked her to sit next to him on a couch under a blanket, where he allegedly touched her inappropriately over and under her clothes on several occasions. Investigators from Florida claim that after Duggar expressed regret, the behavior ceased. According to an affidavit, the victim’s father confronted Duggar the day before investigators were called, and he allegedly acknowledged the accusations over the phone with a Bay County deputy before repeating them to Tontitown detectives. On a $600,000 bond, Duggar is currently free in Arkansas, awaiting his Florida trial. His next court date is September 15th.
Come back to the Daily News Corner for more Duggar news updates.
