The patriarch of TLC reality show “The Willis Family” has been charged with raping an underage girl, officials said.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents charged Toby Willis, 46, with one count of child rape Friday after a days-long investigation revealed he’d had a sexual encounter with the child about 12 years ago, according to a news release.
Authorities arrested Willis in Greenville, Ky., to where he’d fled from law enforcement. As of Friday, he was held without bond at Muhlenberg County Jail in Kentucky on a fugitive from justice warrant.
The investigation is ongoing, officials said. Willis will ultimately be extradited to Cheatham County, Tenn., and be held in its jail without bond.
“The Willis Family,” which premiered last year, followed the country-band brood — Willis, his wife Brenda Willis, and their 12 children whose names all begin with the letter J — known onstage as The Willis Clan.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - FEBRUARY 28: Anna Duggar and Josh Duggar pose during the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel and Convention Center on February 28, 2015 in National Harbor, Maryland. Conservative activists attended the annual political conference to discuss their agenda.
"TLC did not renew 'The Willis Family' and new episodes have not aired since April 2016," a rep from the network told the Daily News in a statement. "We are shocked to hear this news."
By Saturday afternoon, TLC had pulled the show's site and social media channels offline. The Willis Clan’s website URL also yields an error message.
The family was notified of the show cancellation in May, a source close to the show told The News.
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TLC had performed "extensive and vigorous backgrounds" on the entire family — including Toby — and found no issues, the insider added.
The Discovery Communications operation is well-acquainted with scandal: It axed its popular show “19 Kids and Counting” last summer after star Josh Duggar was found to have molested five girls — including his sisters Jill and Jessa — when he was a teen.
He later spent six months in a faith-based rehab center amid the Ashley Madison data breach after revealing he was addicted to pornography and had been unfaithful to his wife.
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