By Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE: Former actuality TV star Josh Duggar was sentenced Wednesday to about 12 1/2 years in jail after he was convicted of receiving little one pornography.
Duggar was additionally convicted of possessing little one pornography in December, however US District Judge Timothy Brooks dismissed that conviction after ruling that, beneath federal legislation, it was an included offense within the receiving little one pornography depend.
Prosecutors had requested US District Judge Timothy Brooks to present the utmost time period of 20 years to Duggar, whose giant household was the main target of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting.” They argued in a pre-sentencing courtroom submitting that Duggar has a “deep-seated, pervasive and violent sexual interest in children.”
The choose sentenced Duggar to 12 years and 7 months in jail, sooner or later after denying a protection movement to overturn the responsible verdict on grounds of inadequate proof or to order a brand new trial.
US Attorney David Clay Fowlkes mentioned he was happy with the sentence. “While this is not the sentence we asked for, this is a lengthy sentence,” Fowlkes mentioned exterior the courthouse.
Duggar, whose legal professionals sought a five-year sentence, maintains his innocence. Defense lawyer Justin Gelfand mentioned he’s grateful Brooks declined to impose the total 20-year sentence requested by prosecutors. “We’ll immediately file the notice of appeal within the next 14 days,” Gelfand mentioned.
Duggar was arrested in April 2021 after a Little Rock police detective discovered little one porn recordsdata have been being shared by a pc traced to Duggar. Investigators testified that photographs depicting the sexual abuse of kids, together with toddlers, have been downloaded in 2019 onto a pc at a automotive dealership Duggar owned.
TLC canceled “19 Kids and Counting” in 2015 following allegations that Duggar had molested 4 of his sisters and a babysitter years earlier. Authorities started investigating the abuse in 2006 after receiving a tip from a household pal however concluded that the statute of limitations on any attainable costs had expired.
Duggar’s mother and father mentioned he had confessed to the fondling and apologized. After the allegations resurfaced in 2015, Duggar apologized publicly for unspecified habits and resigned as a lobbyist for the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group.
Months later, he publicly apologized for dishonest on his spouse and for pornography habit, for which he then sought remedy. In searching for a 20-year sentence, prosecutors cited the graphic photographs — and the ages of the youngsters concerned — in addition to courtroom testimony concerning the alleged abuse of Duggar’s sisters.
Duggar’s previous habits “supplies an alarming window into the extent of his sexual curiosity in youngsters that the Court ought to take into account at sentencing,” federal prosecutors wrote of their sentencing memorandum.
“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 courtroom submitting mentioned.
Prosecutors additionally famous that Duggar’s pc had been partitioned to evade accountability software program that had been put in to report back to his spouse exercise reminiscent of porn searches, in response to specialists.
“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,” prosecutors wrote.
“Duggar accepts that he is before this Court for sentencing and that this Court must impose a penalty,” his attorneys wrote. “That is justice. But Duggar also appeals to this Court’s discretion to temper that justice with mercy.”
