'The Willis Family' patriarch Toby Willis charged with child rape

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'Willis Family' dad's rape charge

Fox411: Toby Willis charged with raping child 12 years ago

The star of TLC's "The Willis Family" was arrested and charged Friday with raping an underage girl 12 years ago, officials said in a press release.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation charged Toby Willis with one count of child rape after an investigation revealed a sexual encounter he allegedly had with a child in 2002.

"TBI Agents arrested the 46-year-old in Greenville, Kentucky, where he travelled [sic] in an effort to avoid law enforcement, and charged him with one count of Rape of a Child," the press release said. "The investigation into Willis remains active and ongoing."

Willis is being held in the Muhlenberg County Jail without bond on a Fugitive from Justice warrant. He will eventually be extradited to Cheatham County where "he will be held...without bond."

"The Willis Family" premiered last year on TLC and follows Willis, his wife Brenda and their 12 children whose names all start with the letter "J." The family of entertainers first became known when they reached the quarterfinals on season 9 of "America's Got Talent" in 2014.

Before their TLC show, they had a reality show on GAC called "The Willis Clan."

"TLC did not renew The Willis Family and new episodes have not aired since April 2016. We are shocked to hear this news," the network told FOX411.

This isn’t the first time Discovery Communications has had to deal with a reality star scandal. Discovery Communications—which includes channels like TLC, The Discovery Channel, OWN and Animal Planet— has had similar accusations affect several of its shows.

Most recently, Josh Duggar of "19 Kids and counting inappropriately touched four of his sisters and another female non-family member back in 2002.