Former reality TV star Josh Duggar was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in federal prison on Wednesday for receiving and possessing child sex abuse images, officials said.
Duggar, 34, was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison and ordered to pay fines and special assessments totaling $50,100, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Arkansas.
Duggar was found guilty in December of two charges of “receiving and possessing material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”
Federal prosecutors contended that the “19 Kids and Counting” star downloaded the images on his work computer in May 2019, and used a Linux partition to circumvent software that monitors internet use. The files included “images of prepubescent children and depictions of sadistic abuse,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Law enforcement detected the activity during an undercover investigation of the online file-sharing program that Duggar used, and found “significant evidence” that Duggar was the only paid employee present when the files were downloaded, the office said.
He faced up to 20 years of prison time.
Presiding Judge Timothy L. Brooks dropped one charge and ruled that Duggar didn’t knowingly distribute child sex abuse images.
“We’re grateful the judge dismissed Count 2 and rejected the Government’s request for a 240 month sentence,” Justin Gelfand, an attorney for Duggar, said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to fight on appeal.”
Duggar’s wife, Anna, and father, Jim Bob, who both appeared on “19 Kids and Counting,” were present during the sentencing. His sister Joy-Anna Forsyth and brother Jason Duggar also attended.
The family did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
In a statement following Duggar’s guilty verdict in December, his parents offered their support to Duggar’s wife and children, and said, “This entire ordeal has been very grievous.”
“As parents, we will never stop praying for Joshua, and loving him,…
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