Josh Duggar was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison and forced to pay a total of $50,100 in penalties and special charges.
On Wednesday at the Western District of Arkansas Federal Courthouse in Fayetteville, U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks handed down a total sentence of 151 months to the 19 Kids and Counting star.
Josh Duggar Is Sentenced To 12 Years In Jail For Child Pornography
When the news was conveyed, Duggar remained calm, continuing to jot down notes on a legal pad for future court procedures. During his sentence, he did not speak to the court.
Justin Gelfand, Duggar’s principal defense attorney, announced that his legal team will file a notice of appeal within the statutory 14 days and that he was looking forward to challenging the one remaining count on appeal. Earlier in the day, they indicated that Duggar maintained his innocence.
“This isn’t the term we sought for, but it is a sentence we’re proud of,” said United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas David Clay Fowlkes, supported by the prosecution team and special agents, after the sentencing.
Fowlkes expressed the hope that this trial will send a message to child pornography victims “They are genuine. Their anguish is genuine. And we will do everything we can to see that justice is done.”
Duggar will be under the supervision of a parole office for the next 20 years after his release, and he will be forbidden from having any unsupervised contact with kids, including his own children with his wife Anna.
Duggar must also undergo sex offender therapy and is prohibited from accessing or viewing any type of pornography, including adult pornography.
Without previous consent from his probation officer, he is not permitted to own any computer or electronic device capable of photographic storage or internet connection, and any devices he does possess must be equipped with internet-monitoring software.
Random searches are also part of the post-release requirement for Duggar, who is not permitted to receive a medical marijuana card and must submit to frequent polygraph testing at the discretion of his probation supervisor.
The restriction on adult pornography and the polygraph tests were also challenged by Duggar’s legal team, but both were overruled by Judge Brooks.
Josh’s father, Jim Bob, Anna, and siblings Joy-Anna (Duggar) Forsyth and Jason Duggar were also in attendance to show their support.
Anna, 33, exited the courtroom without addressing her father-in-law, 56, after her husband’s punishment was read.
Duggar was convicted of two counts of knowingly receiving and possessing child pornography in December, just before his sentence.
The court annulled the conviction on count 2 without prejudice on Wednesday, with both the defense and prosecution agreeing. Judge Brooks pointed out that possessing child pornography is a lower included offense than receiving it.
Josh did not intentionally disseminate pornography, according to Judge Brooks, who upheld the defense’s challenge to the potential augmentation of Duggar’s sentence. On April 29, 2021, Duggar was detained by Homeland Security for receiving and possessing child pornography.
He was subsequently detained without bond in an Arkansas jail for a week before being released to Lacount and Maria Reber, appointed third-party caretakers. The sentencing hearing was initially scheduled for April 5, but Duggar’s plea to postpone it was granted by Judge Brooks of the Western District of Arkansas Federal Court.
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