Former reality star Josh Duggar is expected to return to federal court on Wednesday, where a judge could sentence him to up to twenty years in prison for receiving and possessing child pornography.
According to the Associated Press, Duggar, who previously starred in TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, was arrested last April after a Little Rock police detective found that a computer traced to the reality star was sharing files containing child pornography. Investigators say that the files were downloaded onto a computer in 2019 at a car dealership he owned.
In 2015, TLC canceled 19 Kids and Counting after allegations that Duggar molested four of his sisters and a babysitter had resurfaced years earlier. Once the allegations came to light, Duggar issued a public apology for the abuse and resigned from his position with the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group, where he served as a lobbyist.
Months after his confession, Duggar issued another apology for cheating on his wife, Anna, and being addicted to pornography.
Prosecutors are currently seeking a 20-year sentence for Duggar, but his lawyers have requested the court only give him five.
In their sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors argued that Duggar’s past behavior “provides an alarming window into the extent of his sexual interest in children that the Court should consider at sentencing.”
“This past conduct, when viewed alongside the conduct for which he has been convicted, makes clear that Duggar has a deep-seated, pervasive, and violent sexual interest in children and a willingness to act on that interest,” the court filing stated.
The prosecutors also pointed out that Duggar’s computer had been partitioned to avoid accountability software that issues reports to his wife concerning porn-related searches.
“There is simply no indication that Duggar will ever take the steps necessary to change this pattern of behavior and address his predilection for minor females,” the prosecutors wrote.
Duggar, however, maintains that he is innocent. He has also voiced his desire to file an appeal.
“Duggar accepts that he is before this Court for sentencing and that this Court must impose a penalty,” his attorneys wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “That is justice. But Duggar also appeals to this Court’s discretion to temper that justice with mercy.”
U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks, who will hand down the sentence on Wednesday, rejected Duggar’s request for an acquittal or new trial on Tuesday.
Related:
Josh Duggar Convicted of Possessing, Receiving Child Pornography
Josh Duggar Asks for New Trial or Acquittal in Child Pornography Case
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
