Why Joseph and Kendra Duggar were charged with endangering a minor, false imprisonment

Joseph and Kendra Duggar were recently charged with endangering a minor and false imprisonment after police found several suspicious locks in their family home.

“Apparently, they had two rooms where the lock of the doorknob was on the outside instead of inside,” a source told Us Weekly Monday. “They arrested her and took her kids for that, saying it’s evidence that she wrongly detains her kids.”

After Joseph was arrested on child molestation charges last Wednesday, law enforcement conducted a home study since he and Kendra share four minor children.

Upon police findings, Kendra was arrested two days later, though the source insisted that “Kendra’s arrest has nothing to do with Joseph’s — although one precipitated another.”

Page Six reached out to the couple’s rep for comment.

A release from the Tontitown Police Department noted that arrest warrants had been issued for each of them on four second-degree counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, and four second-degree counts of false imprisonment.

Kendra, 27, was taken to the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville, Ark. and released a couple hours after her arrest after posting a $1,470 bond.

The mother of four was seen in a mugshot with a stoic expression; and after her release, sbe was photographed looking visibly distressed outside of the jail.

Meanwhile, Joseph, 31, is being held in a “secure” area at the Arkansas facility where he is “under constant watch.” He is expected to be extradited to a Florida jail this week for unrelated charges.

The “19 Kids and Counting” alum was arrested for allegedly molesting a 9-year-old girl.

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that he was charged with lewd and lascivious behavior involving a victim younger than the age of 12 and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 or older.

The victim, who is now 14 years old, told officers in a forensic interview that she was allegedly involved in multiple incidents with Joseph during a family vacation in Panama City Beach, Fla., in 2020.

She claimed Joseph repeatedly asked her to sit on his lap and touched her genitals.

One day prior to Joseph’s arrest, the victim’s father addressed the incidents with Joseph, and he confessed to the crimes to the father as well as Tontitown officers, according to the sheriff’s office.

Since his arrest, several of Joseph’s family members have spoken out with his brother Josh defending him, while his cousin Amy stands with the victim.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.