Josh Duggar denied appeal, will stay in prison on child pornography charges until 2032

Disgraced reality television star Josh Duggar will be serving the rest of his original prison sentence behind bars, the courts have decided.

Duggar, who originally rose to fame on the TLC reality show "19 Kids and Counting," was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in April of 2021 and was later found guilty on one count each of receiving and possessing child pornography.

When sentenced in May 2022, Duggar received 12 1/2 years behind bars, a $10,000 fine and orders to attend a mandatory "sex offense-specific treatment program."

As previously reported by USA TODAY, authorities said they began investigating Duggar after a Little Rock, Arkansas police detective found child porn files shared by a computer traced to Duggar. A federal agent testified in 2021 that images depicting the sexual abuse of children, including toddlers, were downloaded in 2019 onto a computer at a car dealership Duggar owned.

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Duggar denied appeals, new trial

Despite the evidence and conviction, Duggar's lawyer has maintained his innocence, saying the images could have been downloaded by someone else at the dealership. He said at the time of sentencing that he "looked forward" to the appeal.

However, it appears that route has now been officially shut down for Duggar.

According to court documents, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit made a final decision to uphold the prior judgement, meaning he will have to continue serving out his sentence until its complete on Oct. 2, 2032. (Duggar previously was scheduled for release in August of 2032 but his sentence was extended thanks to a contraband cellphone).

Duggar's attorney originally filed an appeal in October 2022, which was denied in August by an Eighth Circuit three-judge panel. After this blow, Duggar requested a rehearing by the panel and audience with the full Eight Circuit to hear the case once more.

Duggar's lawyer argued that a new trial was warranted due to evidentiary issues, arguing that a statement his client made to federal agents during the raid on his business shouldn't have been allowed at trial because he didn't have a lawyer present. He also claimed that Duggar's phone was seized while he tried to obtain legal representing, impeding his ability to do so.

The appeals panel disagreed, saying that Duggar was amply informed at the time that he was not in custody and could leave at any time. While he was read his rights, he was not arrested and, "To the contrary, he ended the interview on his own and then left the dealership — hardly an option available to someone in custody,” the court said.

Both of these requests were recently denied, exhausting Duggar's attempts to secure a new trail.

Court denies multople appeals: Josh Duggar's appeal in child pornography case rejected by court

Controversies surrounding Josh Duggar

The oldest child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, Josh appeared on the show "19 Kids and Counting" chronicling their massive, hyper religious family until 2015 when it was cancelled following revelations that Josh had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter when he was a young teen.

He was later caught on Ashley Madison, a dating website advertised as a place for married people looking for an affair to find partners. He made a public apology at the time for cheating on his wife and admitted to a pornography addiction.

TLC spun off another series "Counting On" following the now-adult Duggar children and their budding young families, but that show was also canceled in June 2021 following Josh's arrest.

Duggar is still married to his wife of 15 years, Anna, with whom he has seven children. Anna announced the birth of their youngest just two weeks before Josh was set to go to trial, and publicly stood by Josh's side through the proceedings.

She has since largely stayed off social media and out of the public eye, though Duggar cousin Amy King has been vocal about the family, telling People earlier this year that she has repeatedly tried to reach out to Anna to offer support, a place to live and encourage her to consider parting ways with Josh.

King, along with Josh's sister Jill Duggar Dillard and other people close to the family appeared in the explosive four-part documentary "Shiny Happy People" released earlier this year, which touched not only on the abuse perpetrated but Josh but the cultural of abuse allegedly fostered by their church The Institute for Basic Life Principles.

Jim Bob and Michelle have denied allegations made in the docuseries.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Josh Duggar denied appeal, will stay in prison until 2032