'19 Kids' Joseph Duggar's Jail Call with Wife Revealed

How are you? I've been spending a lot of time praying. and. reading Bible. They got me a Bible in. here. So, I'm in. solitary. So, I'm lonely. There's a brand new jailhouse phone call. in the Joseph Duggar criminal case. We're going to analyze it, break it. down, understand it 2 days after his. arrest on child sex crimes charges. He. apparently called his wife Kendra, who. is also facing her own criminal charges. in Arkansas. So, we're going to go into what they.

said to each other, what it reveals, maybe what it doesn't reveal, and how it. plays into the overall context of this. case. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by. Law & Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Real quick, I got to tell you about this. app, this sponsor. I think you're going. to love it. It is called Upside, okay? Upside gets you cash back. Yes, extra. cash back on everyday purchases like. gas, groceries, takeout. So, here's what. you do. You download Upside for free. You claim an offer at one of the 100,000. plus locations. You pay like normal with. your card. You verify the purchase, and.

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that we want to break down where Kendra. and Joseph seem to be speaking on the. phone while Joseph was was locked up at. the Washington County Detention Facility. in Arkansas. Want to go through this. latest call, what it means in terms of. the pair's overall criminal cases. Try. to understand it. Now, Joseph reportedly. called Kendra at 8:11 p.m. on March. 20th. This is according to People. And. remember, this is 2 days after he was. arrested on March 18th on accusations.

that he sexually molested a 9-year-old. girl back in 2020 out in Florida. But. you know why that date is important. Why. March 20th is important, because that. was the day that both Joseph and Kendra. were charged in Arkansas four counts of. endangering the welfare of a minor in. the second degree and four counts of. false imprisonment. They have four kids. together. She was released on bond. He. kept being locked up based on the. Florida charges. So the timing there is. key and we believe that based on the.

Florida charges, right? There must have. been some sort of warrant that furthered. an investigation to see what was. happening at their family home. In fact, the Tontitown police said on Facebook on. the 20th, as a result of the continuing. investigation, additional charges have. been filed in this case against Joseph. Duggar, aged 31, and Kendra Duggar, aged. 27. Arrest warrants have been issued and. served for the following misdemeanor. offenses through district court.

misdemeanor, not a felony, lower level. offense. Sometimes you you're basically. saying max 1 year in jail. So here you. have four counts of endangering the. welfare of a minor, second degree, four. counts of false imprisonment, second. degree. And it said this remains an. active and ongoing investigation. Arkansas law strictly limits the. information that may be released in. cases involving minors and other. sensitive circumstances to protect the. integrity of the investigation and the. privacy of those involved, no further. details will be provided at this time.

And we don't have further details about. these charges in Arkansas, what. precipitated them. There is an alleged. source that was apparently close to the. family that told people, People. magazine, that it had to do with locks. on the kids' doors. Quote, I can tell. you the arrest was the result of a home. inspection and the door locks being on. the exterior of the doors. That person. also said that what Kendra is being. charged with is totally unrelated to the. felony charges that Joseph faces in. Florida saying quote, she's not. suspected or accused of participating in.

his alleged crime. And to be clear, we. we don't really know if it's about the. locks or not. Authorities haven't said. that. You heard them make the point. about this being a sensitive. investigation. While these Arkansas. charges they both face are misdemeanors. and Kendra is due back in court April. 29th, Joseph remains in custody. Now, he. was awaiting extradition on the more. serious felony charges, okay? Again, in. Florida, lewd and lascivious molestation. of a victim, lewd and lascivious. molestation of a victim less than 12.

years old, and lewd and lascivious. behavior conducted by a person 18 years. or older. This is per the Bay County. Sheriff's Office, again, in Florida. I'm. going to get a little bit more into his. case, but again, we're talking about the. phone call, okay? Before I even get into. the phone call, the significance of the. phone call, what was said on the phone. call, let me put it into the timeline for you. so you understand where it fits, okay? March 18th, we have this video from. Washington County. Kind of gives us a bird's-eye view of. Joseph Duggar getting booked, the angles.

of the officer searching him, getting. his information into the jail system. Anything on you in the sitting. department? Uh no. Any pockets looking at us in the video? No, nothing at all. Oh, I'm sorry. I. thought you said if I had anything on. you. You said no pockets. I mean, you got. anything else? No. Any injuries? Uh. Well, I don't have anything to trade you. with. Have you been here before? Um. not in this fashion. I I think I got a.

My brother went to. I got. pepper sprayed. about 3 Oh, you got pepper sprayed at. work over there? Oh, really? Yeah. What's your last name? Uh Duggar.

>> Then you go to March 20th. So, reportedly 2 hours after Kendra was. booked and released on bond for the. Arkansas charges, there is this phone. call. Now, apparently, according to. people, she had missed the first two. phone calls from Joseph, and they.

reportedly didn't see each other when. Kendra was booked. But now you have the. phone call. Let's play a portion of it. How are you? Um I'm all right. I mean, it's. I I've been spending a lot of time. praying and. reading Bible. They got me a Bible in. here. So, I'm in. solitary. So, I'm only Yeah. Uh I'm I'm. in the cell for 23 hours of the day. So, but. >> Really? Yeah. So, it's like a 8 by 10. area. Pretty small area, but I've been.

able to Wow. read a lot. I actually been. resting some, but I'm not sleeping great. through the night. But Yeah. But. >> Mhm. But it's good to hear your voice. Yeah, it's good to hear from you. I They. also apparently talk about how Joseph is. going to sign over belongings that he. had with him when he was booked so that. Kendra can get a hold of them. But then there's this part. Did you hear. that I'm out here with uh Do you hear.

where I'm at and everything? Mhm. I. don't know. Should we say it? Um I think I think that'll. Well, I don't know. Maybe not. All. right. They've got me a good place to. stay that's very private. Oh, praise the. Lord. I'm happy about that. >> Mhm. So, yeah, I'm going to take it. >> Well, mhm. I'm uh I'm just. >> So, you're doing okay? I'm I'm I'm. trying to keep my spirits up and I feel. like reading the Bible is uh really been. helpful to calm and not think about all.

the. situation all the situation. So, it's been. up with things, so. uh Oh, that's good to hear. They This. one that I got, it's like a some other. NLT version or something like that, but. it's uh it has a devotional in it that. has some really good stuff, so Okay, that's all we currently have from the. phone call. I don't know if there's. more, but here's what I will tell you. I. didn't hear anything about their kids, which again may be related to the.

Arkansas misdemeanor charges, although. you can arguably hear children in the. background, which I'll will about. But. it is interesting there, when you. generally speaking, no discussion of. their criminal cases as far as we can. see, as far as we can hear. And you hear. them be kind of cautious at one point. about what they're saying. Not. surprising. Not surprising because there. is usually a message before a jailhouse. call that indicates that it's being. recorded, and we all know. how many times recorded jailhouse phone.

calls, nonetheless, you have criminal. defendants who say things on them. And. we all know that despite those messages, defendants say things. And those. jailhouse phone calls, time and time. again, have been used, have been. admitted as evidence at trial in one way. or another. So, not surprising that they. don't talk about the substance, the. content of their cases or the charges or. the allegations. It's interesting, given. the gravity of his charges in Florida, too, the way she's talking, right? I.

mean, it seems like she says aw at one. point, given his current situation or. about his current situation. Appears to. be kind of kind to him, maybe even. sympathetic, right? Not refusing to take. his call, not accusing him of anything, not angry. Just my outside perspective. on this, my opinion. And in a minute, I'm going to compare. that to other family members' reactions. Now, in terms of where she's staying, remember there was that part in the. call? People is reporting that Kendra is.

staying at a private residence with her. children after being released. And. remember, authorities reportedly. searched that home that stemmed from. those charges. So, I don't know if she's. still at the private residence, if she's. back at the home, not entirely clear. But if I'm right that I hear children in. the background, it would be interesting that she has her. children, right? Because many times the. children would be taken away, but maybe. that's not the circumstances here. But. again, I think you can kind of hear. children in the background, maybe. I. could be wrong. Now, as far as the.

solitary confinement portion of the. phone call, maybe not surprising given. his relative high-profile status, and. you want to keep him isolated, you want. to keep him protected, particularly. given the allegations that he's facing. Unless, of course, there were issues of. bad behavior, but no reporting, no. evidence to suggest that. Now, I did. look into the Washington County. Detention Center a little bit, and here. are some stats just to keep in mind as. of January 1st, 2026, almost 700 inmate.

population with only a recommended. capacity of 568, by the way. Average age. of the detainees, 37, mostly white. males. Kind of gives you an idea of. where he was. I say was because. according to People, Joseph has been. transferred out of that Arkansas. Detention Facility. The Washington. County Sheriff's Office tells People. that Joseph is no longer in their. custody. We know he waived extradition. Is it possible that it's now happening. where he's being brought over to. Florida? We'll see. That mention to the. Bible, okay? I got to call out the Bible.

aspect of this. So, I'm going to have an. interview in a little bit that I want to. show you where we talk about what we can. expect regarding this case, including, by the way, as we're talking about. Joseph and Kendra, will she testify. against him? Is that a possibility? Before I even go into the Bible, let me. just go back to what the allegations are. here, okay? So, the Sheriff's Office. said in a statement, quote, "On March. 18th, 2026, Bay County investigators. were contacted by a detective with the. Tontitown Police Department regarding a.

report of past sexual abuse. The. 14-year-old victim participated in a. forensic interview where she disclosed. several incidents, several incidents. involving Duggar that occurred during a. family vacation in Panama City Beach. when she was 9 years old. According to. the investigation, the incidents took. place in 2020 while the family was. staying at a residence on Danny Drive. The victim reported Duggar repeatedly. asked her to sit on his lap. As the. vacation continued, he also asked her to. sit next to him on a couch and covered.

them with a blanket. During this time, Duggar manipulated the victim's. underwear and grazed her genitals. Duggar would also continue to rub his. hands on her thighs. The victim stated. Duggar eventually apologized for his. actions and the incident stopped after. the apology. Investigators discovered. the victim's father confronted Duggar. about these incidents on March 17th, 2026. Duggar admitted his actions to the. victim's father and to Tontitown. detectives. Duggar was arrested out of.

state and charged with lewd and. lascivious behavior. I mentioned those. two different counts. And then it said Duggar is currently. awaiting extradition to Bay County. Now, and regarding that alleged admission, according to the affidavit, Joseph also allegedly, quote, admitted. his intentions were not pure. Very. important for intent purposes when you. talk about these criminal charges. By. the way, when you look at how Kendra. acted on that call and given these. allegations, compare that to other. family members' reactions. I'll give you.

an idea. So, Joseph's cousin, Amy. Duggar, told people, "I am sickened, heartbroken, and deeply angry. My first. thoughts are with the victim, a child. who deserved to be safe, protected, and. surrounded by people she could trust.". His sister, Joy-Anna Duggar, "What has. come out about my brother is. heartbreaking and deeply disturbing. My. heart is with the victim and I am. grieved by the pain and harm caused.". Joseph's older sister, Jill Duggar, said. on the blog she shares with her husband.

that they were shocked and heartbroken. "We support the rule of law and hope. that justice will be achieved." Joseph's. younger brother, Jason Duggar, took to. Instagram, writing that he was, quote, "disgusted by the allegations facing his. brother. Our hearts are burdened because. a child's life has now turned upside. down." So, at this point I have to be. clear, these are just allegations. against Joseph and Kendra by the way. They have not been proven guilty. They're innocent until proven guilty. But again, I think it's interesting. looking at the family's reaction to this.

versus the way you heard Kendra speak to. her husband. Um and we don't know. what Kendra knows or doesn't know. Um and why she's saying the things that. she's saying. And maybe wants to support. her husband through this. Again, I don't. know full details. I'm just playing the. call. Now, I want to go back to that. Bible reference on the call. So, we know. that Joseph along with his siblings were. the stars of the TLC show 19 Kids and. Counting. And after the show was. canceled, Joseph had earned his real. estate license. He enrolled at Crown.

Bible College. Eventually went into the. family's uh construction business. Married Kendra 2017. Had four kids. Now, the Bible reference. I can't I can't say for sure what the. religious beliefs of Joseph and Kendra. currently are at this moment in time. But if anyone watched the show, you know. religion was a big part. That show. beginning in 2008 was all about. conservative Christian family life, homeschooling, specialized outfits. Amazon Prime released a documentary. It. was called Shiny Happy People: Duggar.

Family Secrets. One of the things that. the documentary focused on was the. teachings that motivated or guided this. family. IBLP, Institute in Basic Life. Principles. It was led by a man named. Bill Gothard who, by the way, he himself. has been accused of sexually harassing. and assaulting dozens of women. He's. denied the allegations. But Gothard preached to millions about. this male-dominated life, living a. strict lifestyle where you abandon vices. like music and TV and dating and. drinking. And the key here in the.

documentary from the co-director, Olivia. Crist, said the Duggars were quote the. front-facing image of this insidious. organization. So, this documentary. really focused on fundamental. Christianity, homeschooling, cruel forms. of punishing children, how others speak. out about the teachings, that the. Duggars were used as a way to normalize. or clean up what the lifestyle was like. So, again, the reference to him reading. the Bible, just to put it into context. Now, I mentioned this interview that I. did. I spoke at one point to former Palm. Beach County State Attorney Dave.

Aronberg about the different cases, right? Different jurisdictions, whether. Kendra plays a role, whether she will. testify against him after this phone. call. Now, I think I don't know exactly. now, um but I spoke to him before this. phone call was released. And also, by. the way, what a possible defense here. could be. Take a look. How did the. Florida and Arkansas cases play off one. one one another? What is the. coordination? What is the overlapping in. evidence, or are they separate? Well, the um. the defendant here,

he waived extradition, so that he will. be sent back to Florida, but. it would be automatic. I mean, even if. he fought extradition from Arkansas to. Florida for the Florida charges of. molestation, you would lose. It's a losing battle. Unless you can show that they've got it. wrong, that it's not the right person, false identity. But, if it's you and. Florida wants you to stand trial on. serious felonies, you're going to get. extradited.

Now, it's it's different for. misdemeanors. It They're not going to. break down your door and grab you to. bring you back for a misdemeanors. Um but, states work together. There are compacts that allow the states. to seamlessly send people back and. forth. It's much harder if it's a. foreign country. That's when you get. non-extradition, and you get a lot of bureaucratic red. tape. But, when it comes to states, it's. not that hard. Is first question I have.

is when would we learn more information. about what supports these allegations, the specifics of it? I don't know if. it's complicated because you are dealing. with children. And B, is there anything about her case that. could affect what's happening with her. husband? You know, typically I would say. in a case if two people are being. charged and one is facing lesser charges. than the other, would there be some sort. of deal that's worked out where they. would testify against the other? But. this is complicated by the fact married,

two different circumstances. She's. facing misdemeanor charges. Um you know, there's always the spousal. privilege. I'm just spitballing here. I'm just trying to think about some ways. this might uh play out. And and to be. clear, both of them are innocent until. proven guilty. Correct. And you're also correct in. bringing up spousal privilege because. that makes it very difficult to leverage. one spouse against the other. That I. think is probably a non-starter. Now, it. is telling though that Kendra's charges. are a lot less than her husband's.

At the same time, they may not need. Kendra because they've got the. apparently the cooperation of the. victim's family in the husband's case. Now, could Kendra. try to cut a deal to save herself? Yes, but because of spousal privilege, which. can be invoked by either. party, it is very difficult to get her. to testify against her husband. Well, how does a defense attorney fight.

back against that? I mean, I'm assuming. there's a recording of the interview, but. um also if there was an admission to, you know, law enforcement and also the. father, right, of this this uh minor. victim uh or alleged victim, how does a. defense attorney work around that? Well, defense attorneys get paid a lot. of money to be creative, especially when. you have deep pockets. And so I think. he's got a private lawyer, not a public. defender, although public defenders do. good jobs. But what they'll do is. they'll just try to poke holes in it. I've heard.

in cases like this where. they try to go into the origins of the. recording saying it was improperly. recorded and then if that fails they'll. try to say well it's taken out of. context and then they'll say well maybe. it was joking or and then they'll try to. just overcome it by. finding other holes in the case because. when it comes to reasonable doubt if. they can poke a hole in a one piece of. evidence they can just rely on that and. harp on that well look you know you have. the recording but there's this other.

piece of evidence that you should focus. on that is faulty and because of that. that's a reasonable doubt the but I. think that the main argument for the. defense is is going to be that. that that Joseph was pressured by the. victim's father so he felt religiously. obligated to admit something that. actually wasn't a crime under Florida. law so they're going to say coercion. here so they're going to lean into a. motion to suppress. saying that the police didn't follow. proper procedure and that the confession.

was coerced. but man I I that's hard it's an uphill. climb that's one thing that defense. lawyers. always try to do but it doesn't succeed. very often Okay we'll see what happens. next in the Duggar story we'll make sure. to stay on top of it but as always thank. you so much for joining us here on. sidebar please subscribe on YouTube. Apple podcast Spotify wherever you. should get your podcast you can also. check us out on NBC's Peacock as well if. you want to follow me X Instagram my. NewsNation show Jesse Weber live Monday.

through Friday 11:00 p.m. Eastern I'll. see you next time everybody.