James was allegedly found masturbating in his car, according to an Ontario County Sheriff’s Report press release
Credit: Dougherty Dozen/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- James Dougherty, of the popular internet family the Dougherty Dozen, was arrested for alleged public lewdness at a mall parking lot in Victor, New York
- The Dougherty family shares their life with 1.64 million YouTube subscribers
- Alicia and Josh Dougherty have 13 kids through adoption, foster care and biologically
James William Dougherty — the second-oldest son of Josh and Alicia Dougherty, the couple behind the popular family channel Dougherty Dozen — has been arrested on charges of public lewdness.
According to a press release from the Ontario County Sheriff’s Department obtained by PEOPLE, James was arrested at the Eastview Mall in Victor, N.Y. around 3:32 p.m. on July 29. The press release also listed James’ address as homeless.
“Through investigation, it was determined that Mr. Dougherty was found masturbating in his vehicle in the parking lot at the Eastview in view of the public,” the press release alleged. James was taken into custody and issued an appearance ticket and is set to return to Victor Town Court at a later time to answer for the charges, per a press release.
Credit: Courtesy of Alicia and Dougherty Dozen
PEOPLE reached out to the Dougherty family for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Alicia and Josh are known for documenting their life as a family of 13 online. On YouTube, the family boasts 1.64 million subscribers and is known for breaking down how they run their household with their many children. Though the family is known as the Dougherty Dozen, they branded the name before their son Dayshawn was adopted, but decided not to change the name further.
Alicia and Josh met in college, where both were pursuing teaching degrees and married soon after they graduated in 2003. The couple struggled with infertility and recurring pregnancy loss before deciding to look into foster care and adoption routes.
In a 2025 Facebook post, the couple explained the dynamics of how their large family came to be.
They adopted their eldest son Alex, now 20, in 2011, when he was just five years old, before finding out, just six days after adopting him, that they were pregnant with Zoey, now 14. When Zoey turned 1, the couple adopted then-six-year-old James. Two weeks after that, the couple found out that they were pregnant with the now 12-year-old Dash.
View this post on Instagram
“The next year we were asked to take Foster Care placement of Jason and Jordan ‘for 5 days.’ Well, 5 days turned into forever, and we eventually adopted the twins,” they wrote. Later, Alicia gave birth to Bodhi in 2016, and Harlee Quinton in 2018.
“The next year we heard about a sibling group in a Residential Treatment Facility that were being split apart for adoptions. We advocated to keep them together and be their Adoptive Family in order for that to happen. We adopted Bree and Patrick in 2019. They were 8 and 11 years old at the time,” the post continued.
“And then in the Spring of 2022 we were asked to take Kinship Placement of Dayshawn, and we now have Permanent Custody.”
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