Duggar rose to fame as the eldest child on TLC’s '19 Kids and Counting', a reality TV show about his religious conservative family.
Trigger Warning: This story discusses child pornography that may be disturbing to readers.
Former reality TV star Josh Duggar has convicted by a federal jury of downloading and possessing child pornography. The jury in Fayetteville, about 140 miles northwest of Little Rock, found the 33-year-old Duggar guilty on one count each of receiving and possessing child pornography.
He was immediately taken into custody on December 9, 2021, after the conviction, reports the Associated Press. He now faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for each count when he’s sentenced.
According to prosecutors, Duggar downloaded a Linux partition on a laptop to deceive software that monitors internet use. A Linux partition can help users divide hard drives into isolated sections. Images of sexual abuse of children, including toddlers, were downloaded in 2019 on a computer that was traced back to a car dealership owned by Duggar. In April, Duggar pleaded not guilty to the charges, although he had earlier apologized for pornography addiction. But in May 2021, a federal agent testified about the materials found on the said computer.
Josh Duggar has been found guilty on two counts of downloading and possessing CSAM. So much grief for the survivors, and for everyone caught in the cross hairs. Perhaps most disturbing however is how the patterns noted in this earlier post, played out... https://t.co/eKMytkvLgc
— Rachael Denhollander (@R_Denhollander) December 9, 2021
It was revealed that federal authorities began investigating Duggar after a detective in the city of Little Rock discovered child pornography on a computer that was linked back to him.
“Regardless of wealth, social status, or fame, our office will continue to seek out all individuals who seek to abuse children and victimize them through the downloading, possession, and sharing of child pornography,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes of the western district of Arkansas, which prosecuted the case.
#BREAKING the verdict is in after hours of deliberation.
— Anna Darling (@AnnaDarlingTV) December 9, 2021
The jury has found #JoshDuggar GUILTY on both charges of receipt and possession of child pornography. #NWANews pic.twitter.com/piP2bMrzT3
As for Duggar's sentencing, U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks said sentencing will happen in about four months, according to KNWA.
As expected, Duggar’s attorney argued that someone else downloaded or uploaded the images onto Duggar’s computer, but that wasn't enough to convince the judge. “We respect the jury’s verdict and we look forward to continuing this fight on appeal,” said Justin Gelfand, one of Duggar’s defense attorneys.
Duggar rose to fame as the eldest child on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, a reality TV show about his religious conservative family. However, the show was canceled in 2015 after In Touch magazine revealed that he had allegedly molested four of his sisters and a babysitter, per BBC. At the time, Duggar acknowledged his actions and said in a statement that he "acted inexcusably" when he was an adolescent. "I hurt others, including my family and close friends," he said.
This is the actual shed Josh Duggar was using as an office to watch child abuse videos from. In case you needed the visual for how obviously guilty he is. pic.twitter.com/sC5oioXETX
— Becca (@rebecca_walk) December 7, 2021
Meanwhile, Duggar's father Jim Bob Duggar, who also starred on the reality show, is running in a special election for a vacant state Senate seat in northwestern Arkansas, and the primary election in that race is on Tuesday. He previously served in the Arkansas House.
References:
https://apnews.com/article/josh-duggar-convicted-child-pornography-26436604345361733003627af33bda78
https://www.nwahomepage.com/josh-duggar-trial/josh-duggar-found-guilty-in-child-pornography-trial/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59572669
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Washington County Sheriff’s Office
