Josh Duggar found guilty in child pornography case
He faces 20 years in prison
Josh Duggar has been found guilty in child pornography case.
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A jury spent around four hours deliberating before coming back with their verdict. The father-of-seven now awaits sentencing; he could be facing 20 years in prison with fines up to $250,000.
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The judge on Thursdy said sentencing may take up to four months; Josh was detained into custody after the verdict.
"Mr Duggar 100 percent has been compliant awaiting trial," Judge Brooks said of Josh Duggar's detention according to .
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"I appreciate that and I wanted to acknowledge that. However because of the guilty offenses, he must be detained regardless of flight risk so there will be a mandatory detention. The marshalls will set that up.”
Prosecutor Clayman also confirmed that Josh was found guilty on one count, "receipt of child pornography."
In a press conference after the trial, he explained that "possession of child pornography is a lesser, included offense for receipt of child pornography. So by function of law, you cannot be convicted of both."
Josh turned himself in but pled not guilty
After a 2019 raid on his Arkansas car dealership, the father-of-six willingly turned himself in on 29 April 2021. It was later confirmed through court documents that Josh had been arrested for “knowingly received child pornography" and "knowingly possessed material that contained images of child pornography,” including “images of minors under the age of 12" in May 2019.
He had pled not guilty to receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material.
The seven-day trial saw his wife Anna in attendance every day. Derrick Dillard, the husband of Jill who has been estranged from her family, was in court every day as was Austin Forsyth, the husband of Joy-Anna.
Jill and Joy-Anna both previously revealed that in 2005 they were victims of molestation by Josh, as were sisters Jessa and Jinger. Joy-Anna and Jessa were both in court for several days, as were brother Jason and Justin, sister Jana, and patriarch Jim Bob who missed the first few days.
Josh's mother Michelle never appeared in court.
Anna and Josh walked in hand-in-hand to court every day
During deliberations the jury asked to listen again to a recording of an interview Josh gave with Homeland Security from the day his Arkansas car lot was investigated.
On the recording, he could be heard telling investigators that his HP computer was password protected and questioned if they were looking for child pornography.
The trial began in early December with an evidentiary hearing to discuss Josh's past molestation scandal. The defense team had moved to exclude any mention of the accusations from the upcoming trial, but it was denied.
Jim Bob and Michelle sent Josh to a Christian program
Bobby Holt, a former family friend who is married to Jim Holt, an elder in the Duggar's church, recalled on the stand that Josh in 2003 had "confessed" to inappropriately touching four girls.
At the time, Josh was sent to a Christian program by his parents instead of calling in authorities.
The allegations became public knowledge in 2015 when Jill, Jessa, Jinger and Joy filed a lawsuit against the city of Springdale, Arkansas, as well as the city’s police officials, for allowing the legal documents detailing the sexual abuse to be released.
The scandal led to the cancellation of the family's TLC show No charges were ever filed.
Josh is a father of seven
Anna and Josh became parents for the seventh time on 23 October; the new mom shared a gorgeous picture of her daughter in November revealing the newborn was born weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces, and measuring 20 inches.
Anna and Josh are also parents to Mackynzie Renée, 12, Michael James, 10, Marcus Anthony, 8, Meredith Grace, 6, Mason Garrett, 4, and Maryella Hope, who will turn 2 later this month.
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