“TLC” star Toby Willis of “The Willis Family” was arrested Friday, Sept. 9, in Greenville, Kentucky, on one charge of child rape, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
The TBI announced in a statement last week that agents began investigating the 46-year-old after reports surfaced that he had a sexual relationship with an underage female 12 years ago.
Authorities said the reality TV star attempted to evade arrest and fled to Greenville where he was eventually caught and arrested.
Willis and his musically inclined family of 14 shot to fame after they appeared on Season 9 of “America’s Got Talent.” The parents and their kids, ages 5 to 24, played under the name The Willis Clan and were frequently compared to a “modern-day Partridge family.” The family landed a show TLC, aptly titled “The Willis Family,” in 2015.
A rep for the network told The Huffington Post in an emailed statement on Monday, “TLC did not renew ‘The Willis Family’ and new episodes have not aired since April 2016. We are shocked to hear this news.”
A source close to the network told The Huffington Post that the family was alerted their show was canceled back in May because of low ratings. The source added that TLC performed extensive and vigorous background checks on all family members, including Toby, and found no prior issues. As of Monday, The Willis Family has been removed from all digital and social platforms on TLC.
The arrest and cancellation comes after two other TLC shows, “Honey Boo Boo” and “19 Kids and Counting” were axed due to sex scandals involving underaged girls.
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