Father-of-12 Toby Willis from TLC's The Willis Family is charged with raping an underage child after attempting to flee from police
Toby Willis, who is a star of the TLC reality show The Willis Family, has been arrested.
According to TMZ, the 48-year-old was taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count of rape of a child. He is being held without bail.
The TV star is a father to 12 children.
While Willis and his family live in Nashville, Tennessee, investigators reportedly picked up Willis in Kentucky after attempting to flee from law enforcement.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations initially began looking into the matter at the end of August.
Over the course of their investigation, they claim to have discovered that Willis had a sexual encounter with an underage girl 12 years ago.
A source close to the show revealed that the network did a detailed background check on the couple and there were no red flags prior to the criminal investigation.
Apparently, TLC has not aired an episode of the show, which follows the exploits of the musical Willis family and their family country music band The Willis Clan, since April.
The same source also revealed that the family had been informed the show would not be picked up for a third season.
Network reps have said they are 'shocked to hear the news.'
As of Saturday, the network had removed all links to the show from the official TLC website.
This is not the first allegation of sexual abuse to arise from a TLC show.
Josh Duggar of 19 Kids And Counting was recently investigated for molesting five underage girls, including his sisters. The show has since been canceled.
A pattern: Josh Duggar of 19 Kids And Counting, also a TLC show, was recently investigated for molesting five underage girls, including his sisters
- Toby, 48, was taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count of rape of a child
- Investigators reportedly picked up Willis in Kentucky after attempting to flee from law enforcement
- Network reps have said they are 'shocked to hear the news'
Toby Willis, who is a star of the TLC reality show The Willis Family, has been arrested.
According to TMZ, the 48-year-old was taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count of rape of a child. He is being held without bail.
The TV star is a father to 12 children.
While Willis and his family live in Nashville, Tennessee, investigators reportedly picked up Willis in Kentucky after attempting to flee from law enforcement.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations initially began looking into the matter at the end of August.
Over the course of their investigation, they claim to have discovered that Willis had a sexual encounter with an underage girl 12 years ago.
A source close to the show revealed that the network did a detailed background check on the couple and there were no red flags prior to the criminal investigation.
Apparently, TLC has not aired an episode of the show, which follows the exploits of the musical Willis family and their family country music band The Willis Clan, since April.
The same source also revealed that the family had been informed the show would not be picked up for a third season.
Network reps have said they are 'shocked to hear the news.'
As of Saturday, the network had removed all links to the show from the official TLC website.
This is not the first allegation of sexual abuse to arise from a TLC show.
Josh Duggar of 19 Kids And Counting was recently investigated for molesting five underage girls, including his sisters. The show has since been canceled.
A pattern: Josh Duggar of 19 Kids And Counting, also a TLC show, was recently investigated for molesting five underage girls, including his sisters
