Convicted Sex Offender Josh Duggar Hits Back at 'False' Child Molestation Accusations Aimed at Brother Joseph from Prison — It's 'Sensationalized Fiction'

Josh Duggar has dismissed his brother Joseph's child molestation allegations as "sensationalized fiction," RadarOnline.com can reveal.

The convicted s-- offender defended his brother from behind bars while serving a 12-year prison sentence for possessing child pornography.

Joseph, 31, was arrested on Wednesday, March 19, and charged in connection with allegations he inappropriately touched a nine-year-old girl.

Josh, 38, said charges against his brother "deeply saddened" him.

His attorney said, "Josh understands the stigma of being accused. He lives with the painful reality of how false accusations can destroy a life.

"He understands how the targeting of a person for publicity can twist the truth into sensationalized fiction."

The attorney added that although "Josh and Joe are not in frequent communication," the jailed brother "hopes and prays for his brother's well-being in this difficult time."

Both brothers were stars on TLC's 19 Kids and Counting, a reality show that ran for roughly seven years.

It followed the lives of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, along with their nine daughters and ten sons, whose names all start with "J."

Josh's claim that the charges against Joseph are false contradicts the authorities' assertion the reality star admitted to unlawful conduct to both them and the accuser's father.

Joseph, a married father of four, repeatedly engaged in "unlawful sexual activity" with the underage girl during a family vacation in 2020 at Panama City Beach, the Bay County Sheriff's Office in Florida said in a statement released after the arrest on Wednesday.

Police said Joseph "repeatedly" asked the girl to sit on his lap. Later, he allegedly asked her to sit on a couch with him.

While a blanket was over them, Joseph "manipulated" her underwear, "grazed" her genitals, and rubbed her thighs, police said.

The girl, now 14, reported the alleged assault to police in Tontitown, Arkansas, and once investigators determined the incident occurred in Bay County, they referred the case to the sheriff’s office, which issued a warrant for Joseph's arrest.

Officers with the Tontitown Police Department arrested Joseph based on that warrant. He is being held in Arkansas as he awaits extradition back to Florida.

The girl told police Joseph "eventually apologized for his actions and the incidents stopped after the apology," according to the statement from the Bay County Sheriff's Office.

The father of the girl confronted Joseph about the alleged assault on Tuesday, March 18, according to police in Tontitown. After that, Joseph admitted to his actions to the girl's dad and to a Tontitown detective, police said.

Joseph was subsequently charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12-years-old, and with lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older.

The Duggar family's TLC reality show was canceled in 2015 after allegations emerged that Josh, the oldest son, had molested several girls years earlier, including some of his sisters.