TV Celebrity Josh Duggar Files Appeal After Getting 12 Years For Child Porn

By - June 27, 2022
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Josh Duggar, who appeared on TLC’s ‘19 Kids And Counting’ TV show for several years, has filed an appeal in Arkansas after being sentenced to 12 years in prison on child pornography charges.

The court document reads that Duggar was providing notice that he intends to appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The appeal was filed approximately two weeks after the 34-year-old was convicted on child porn charges.

Duggar is currently being held at Washington County Detention Center in Arkansas. He was convicted on several counts of receiving and possessing child pornography in late 2021 after he was arrested in the spring of that year.

Duggar, who has seven children, was sentenced last month to 12.5 years in prison, and he also got 20 years of supervised release once he is released. The prosecutor wanted the judge to give him 20 years in prison.

The prosecutor added that the maximum sentence should have been imposed because the TV star has a ‘deep-seating, pervasive, and violent sexual interest in children.’

Duggar’s attorneys wanted him to get a five-year sentence, and the celebrity maintained all along that he is innocent. However, he noted that he was glad that the judge didn’t give him the full 20 year sentence.

Former TLC Star Appealing Single Count of Receiving Child Pornography

The appeal involves the single count of receiving child pornography. A count of possessing child pornography was already dismissed by the US District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in May.

Duggar’s legal team announced last month that they planned to appeal his sentence. They said in May that they would file their appeal notice within 14 days of the verdict.

Also, US Magazine confirmed this month that the former TLC star isn’t allowed to have unsupervised contact with minors when he is released from prison. This includes any of his children who are less than 18 when he is released. The native of Arkansas has seven children ranging from seven months to 12.

There also is a chance that Duggar will need to take lie detector tests periodically when he is released. The sentence states that he could need to take polygraph tests if the probation officer wants him to do so. This could be required to ensure that he is in full compliance with the requirements of his sentence.

When he is released from prison, he is not allowed to possess, use, or have access to a personal computer or mobile phone with Internet connectivity or a camera without notice and approval of the probation office.

He was convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography in December 2021. He could have gotten 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

According to police records from 2021, Duggar used his Internet connection at home to download child pornography materials. The police said that he possessed the illegal material, and some of it showed children enduring sexual abuse when they were less than 12 years old in 2019.

Some of the children depicted in the pictures and videos were toddlers. The materials were downloaded onto Duggar’s computer at a car dealership he owned.

His arrest came a few days after his wife announced that they were going to have a baby.

Duggar Made Headlines in 2015 When He Admitted To Molesting 5 Girls

The ex-TLC star has courted controversy for years. In 2015, he was in national headlines when it came out that he molested several girls, four of which were his blood relatives, between 2002 and 2003. He was approximately 15 at the time.

In 2015, Duggar told the media that as a young teen, he acted in an inexcusable and sexual manner that he is sorry for and regrets. He added that he hurt people related to him as well as close friends.

Duggar said that year that he spoke with the police when he confessed to the things he did, and he agreed to have counseling. He noted that he knew if he continued to behave in this way that he would ruin his life.

His marriage to his wife Anna hit a tough time that year as well when it was revealed that he had an Ashley Madison account where he was looking for sex from other women. He started to get treatment for sex addiction at that time and he also entered counseling with his wife.

Duggar and his wife stated in 2016 that after the residential sex addiction program he entered, they were in a professional marriage counseling program that would help them heal and move forward.

Family Was Shocked At the Sex Allegations

When Duggar was accused of possessing child pornography, his parents Bob and Michelle were shocked. They said that the allegations against their son were serious, and that they wanted the truth to come to light, whatever it was.

Duggar’s sister Jill and her husband Derick aren’t on the best terms with the former TLC star and the rest of the family. They said when they found out about the child porn allegations, they were ‘very sad.’

His sister Jinger posted on Instagram after the allegations came out, noting that the case would need to go through the legal system. Also, they said they condemn all types of child abuse and fully support the police as they find out the truth.