Josh Duggar, the 34-year-old reality TV star, was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $50,100 in penalties and special charges.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks sentenced the 34-year-old former ‘19 Kids and Counting; star to 151 months in prison at the Western District of Arkansas Federal Courthouse in Fayetteville. During his sentencing, Duggar did not address the court.
Justin Gelfand, Duggar’s principal defense attorney, announced that his legal team would file a notice of appeal within the 14-day period allowed by law and that they were looking forward to challenging the one remaining count on appeal. Earlier in the day, they indicated that Duggar maintained his innocence.
David Clay Fowlkes United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas expressed optimism that this trial will send a message to child pornography victims that children are genuine, their anguish is palpable, and justice should be done.
Duggar will be under the supervision of a parole office for 20 years after his release from prison. He is not allowed to have unsupervised contact with kids, including his own children with wife Anna.
Duggar is also required to attend sex offender treatment and is not permitted to access or view pornography of any type. Without prior consent from his probation officer, he is not permitted to use any computer or electronic device capable of photographic storage or internet connection, and internet-monitoring software must be installed on any devices he uses.
Prior to his sentencing, Duggar was convicted in December on two counts of knowingly obtaining and possessing child pornography. The court vacated the conviction on count 2 without prejudice on Wednesday, with the agreement of both the defense and the prosecution. Judge Brooks stated that possession is a less serious charge than receiving child pornography.
Judge Brooks also concluded that Josh did not deliberately disseminate pornography and upheld the defense’s argument for the potential sentencing enhancement for Duggar.
