Josh Duggar Convicted Of Child Porn Charges, Could Face 20 Years In Prison

An exact date for Duggar’s sentencing has yet to be confirmed, but those keeping up with the updates can expect to hear the Arkansas’ native’s fate in about four months, pending a pre-sentence investigation.

Following his conviction earlier this week, the 19 Kids and Counting star was led away by U.S. marshals in handcuffs, seemingly becoming more and more distraught while he briefly stopped to speak with his wife and the mother of his children, Anna Renee Duggar.

“A child predator has been brought to justice,” Billy Riggins, Homeland Security’s resident agent-in-charge said while celebrating the verdict outside of the courthouse. “First and foremost, this shows that no person is above the law,” Clay Fowlkes, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas added. While Duggar’s attorneys shared that they “respect the jury’s verdict,” they added that they vow to appeal in the future. 

PEOPLE notes that it was two years ago when Homeland Security Agents searched Duggar’s Wholesale Motorcars, where they seized two personal devices and a work desktop. Upon doing some investigating, it was discovered that the disgraced man had “devised an elaborate hidden system on his work computer with which it view the child pornography.”

Kris Connor/Getty Images

During the testimony, James Fottrell, director of the Department of Justice’s High Technology Investigative Unit said that he had found photos and videos of children – some of whom were younger than 10 – being sexually abused on Duggar’s devices, which he personally analyzed. Apparently, the content was made available on a separate password-protected operating system on his computer.

Years before the latest scandal, the Duggar family found themselves at the centre of controversy when it came out that Josh had molested four of his younger sisters and a babysitter while he was a boy and a teenager.

About The Author

Hayley Hynes is the former Weekend Managing Editor of HotNewHipHop, she stepped down after two years in 2024 to pursue other creative opportunities but remains on staff part-time to cover music, gossip, and pop culture news. Currently, she contributes similar content on Blavity and 21Ninety, as well as on her personal blog where she also offers tarot/astrology services. Hayley resides on the western side of Canada, previously spending a year in Vancouver to study Fashion Marketing at Blanche Macdonald Centre and Journalism at Mount Royal University in Calgary before that. She's passionate about helping others heal through storytelling, and shares much more about her life on Instagram @hayleyhynes.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qbvTp5ywoJmltbC8jZympmdjbX9ygo9moairmGKxtrPGmqlmm5%2Bjw6qv056bZqeWYrCptcudZKmnoqN6pLTAq56eq12YvLa4w2admpuVYn9xediemKurXZ67brzRoqqopl2jsri%2F