Josh Duggar sentenced to more than 12 years in child porn case

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Former reality star Josh Duggar has been sentenced to 151 months, which is equivalent to over 12 years in prison for receipt of child pornography.

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KNVA says Josh Duggar received the sentence from the judge Wednesday after he was found guilty of downloading and possessing child porn following a week-long trial in December.

KSFM-TV says he was sentenced to one count of receiving child porn but not the possession of child pornography.

People Magazine says both the defense and prosecution agreed to vacate count two, which they noted as the lesser of the charges. U.S. District Judge Timothy L Brooks ruled that Duggar didn’t knowingly distribute pornography.

At the beginning of the month, Duggar’s lawyers sent a letter to the judge asking for leniency in his sentencing, according to KSFM-TV.

Background

Authorities arrested Duggar, who appeared on more than 115 episodes of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography in April 2021. Investigators accused Duggar of using the internet to download child pornography in May 2019. The images, which were downloaded at a used car lot that Duggar owns in Springdale, depicted children as young as 7 years old, KSFM-TV reported.

In court, Department of Homeland Security Special Agent Gerald Faulkner testified that agents seized Duggar’s iPhone and multiple computers in 2019 and found a Linux partition on one of the computers meant to get around software that notified his wife if he viewed pornography, KSFM-TV reported.

The Associated Press said “19 Kids and Counting” was canceled in 2015 after allegations that Duggar molested multiple girls years before, including four of his sisters.

Check back for more on this developing story.

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