Former Reality Star Josh Duggar Sentenced to 12 Years in Child Pornography Case
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Former TLC star Josh Duggar was sentenced to 151 months — or about 12 1/2 years — in prison on Wednesday after he was convicted of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material, the Associated Press reports.
Duggar was facing up to 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. Prosecutors had pushed for the maximum sentence, but the possession charge was dropped after an agreement between Duggar’s legal team and the court; he was subsequently only sentenced for receiving child pornography. Duggar maintained his innocence in court and vowed to appeal, According to the AP.
More from Rolling Stone
The Art World's 'Mini Madoff' Sentenced to 84 Months for His $86 Million Fraud
Shooting at DaBaby's North Carolina Home Leaves One Person Injured
Duggar was arrested in April and pleaded not guilty to charges of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material. After an eight-day trial in December — during which prosecutors presented evidence that he had repeatedly downloaded and viewed child sexual abuse material from a hidden part of his work computer in May 2019 — the jury found him guilty on both counts.
In May 2021, a federal agent testified that more than 60 images of child pornography were discovered on Duggar’s computer, depicting images and videos of children ranging form 18 months to 10 years old.
Duggar, who previously starred on the since-canceled TLC hit 19 Kids and Counting with his family, previously faced a child molestation scandal related to his conduct as a teenager. In May 2015, a 2006 police report surfaced and revealed that he had been investigated as a teen for inappropriately touching five underage girls, reports AP. Two of his sisters subsequently stepped forward as two of the victims. At the time, Duggar publicly apologized for his “wrongdoing.”
Duggar has yet to publicly address his conviction or sentencing.
Best of Rolling Stone
