Jana Duggar is “heartbroken” after her brother Joseph Duggar was arrested on child sexual abuse charges.
“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken by the situation involving our brother Joseph,” the “19 Kids and Counting” personality wrote on Facebook Thursday.
“This news was a shock to us as we had no prior knowledge until it became public,” Yana continued.
“Our hearts are with the child victim. This is a painful and unacceptable wrong. We continued to pray for the victim and for justice to be served,” she concluded.
Representatives for the Duggars did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
The 36-year-old former TLC star, who has one child with Stephen Whisman, whom she married in 2024, is the older sister of 31-year-old Joseph.
Joseph was arrested in Arkansas on March 18 on suspicion of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl during a 2020 family trip to Panama City Beach, Florida.
According to an affidavit obtained by Page Six, the victim, now 14 years old, told police that Joseph sexually abused her while she was on vacation.
He was then extradited to Florida, where he pleaded not guilty and was released on $600,000 bail. However, they have been ordered to refrain from unsupervised contact with minors.
He and his wife, Kendra, were then charged in Arkansas on March 20 with four counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of second-degree false imprisonment.
Kendra turned herself in and later bonded, and the couple is scheduled to return to court in their home state this month.
Yana is just the latest in a series of family members to speak out about Joseph’s arrest. Kendra’s aunt, Deanna Duggar, begged Kendra for a divorce, adding, “I need a new life.”
The family’s patriarch, Jim Bob, and matriarch, Michelle, also said they were “heartbroken” by the arrest.
“Right now, they are focused on loving their family and helping Kendra and the children during this difficult time,” the statement read in part. “They are grateful for the kind words and prayers that so many people have sent in.”
Joy-Anna Duggar called the situation “deeply disturbing” in a statement of her own, while Jason Duggar and his wife Maddie Grace Duggar said in a statement that they were “disgusted to hear the news” while condemning the alleged “despicable” behavior.
Joseph’s cousin Amy Duggar declared in a statement obtained by People magazine that she was “sickened, heartbroken and deeply angry,” while Joseph’s sister Jinger Duggar Vuolo and her husband Jeremy Vuolo said it was “devastating news to hear” in an episode of their podcast of the same name.
Brother Josh Duggar, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for possessing and receiving child sexual abuse material in 2021, denounced the charges as “false” through his lawyer from prison.
“He understands how targeting a person for publicity can twist truth into sensational fiction,” his lawyer told the Daily Mail last week.
Jana herself faced trouble with the law in December 2021, when she was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
“Several months ago, while I was babysitting, one of the children was wandering outside alone. A passerby who saw the child called the police. As a result, a written citation was issued and a follow-up investigation was conducted with child welfare officials, who concluded that this was an accident and the child was not injured,” she explained via social media at the time.
“They recognized it as a case of a child slipping out of the house when their back was turned for a moment,” she continued. “It all happened so fast and it was scary. We are grateful to law enforcement and those who protect and serve our community.”
The former TLC star initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to documents obtained by Page Six at the time. But in January 2022, she avoided trial by pleading guilty to lesser charges and paying an $880 fine.
