Josh Duggar sentenced to 12+ years for child pornography conviction
More than two and a half years after federal authorities raided former 19 Kids and Counting star Josh Duggar’s used car lot and found numerous disturbing photos and videos depicting child pornography on his partitioned computer, a judge has sentenced the disgraced reality star to more than a decade in prison.
Josh’s attorneys had a total of 22 objections to the pre-sentencing report that had Josh facing up to 20 years in prison. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks listened to arguments from the prosecution and defense and denied all but a few of the defense’s objections. The sustained objections included disallowing two sentence enhancements.
One of the sentencing enhancements required a minimum of 600 images of child sexual abuse. After a lot of arguing between attorneys, the judge decided that the prosecution couldn’t reach the threshold. As a result, that level 5 enhancement was dropped to a level 4 enhancement.
The judge also decided to not allow a level 2 enhancement for distribution. Prosecution argued that Josh demonstrated a solid understanding of the peer-to-peer networks he used to download the photos and videos and so he must have been aware that anything he downloaded would be available to others on the network. It seems the judge disagreed.
After everything was said and done, the judge sentenced Josh Duggar to 151 months in prison. That equates to roughly 12.5 years. It’s important to note that Josh was convicted of both possession and receipt of child pornography. However, possession falls under receipt so he was only sentenced for receipt.
Josh’s defense team have previously stated they plan to appeal the conviction.
If you are curious who was in attendance at Josh’s sentencing, The Sun and The Ashley had reporters at the courthouse providing live updates. Here is a list of who was present:
#EXCLUSIVE: Josh Duggar’s rarely-seen wife Anna looks stoic as she arrives at court for his child pornography prison sentencing https://t.co/eaF2mDLq1z pic.twitter.com/XuXFOkx1QT
— The US Sun (@TheSunUS) May 25, 2022
In attendance:
Jim Bob Duggar
Anna Duggar
Anna’s brother David Keller
Anna’s sister-in-law Hannah Keller
Jason Duggar
Joy-Anna (Duggar) Forsyth
James Duggar
Prosecution witness and former Duggar family friend Bobye Holt
Notably absent:
Michelle Duggar
Jill Dillard
Derick Dillard
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
