Former reality television star Josh Duggar has been found guilty on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. Duggar, who gained national fame for his role on the show 19 Kids and Counting and became a face of the Christian "Quiverfull movement," is facing up to 20 years in prison.
Prosecution attorneys and government agents celebrated the verdict outside the courthouse. "A child predator has been brought to justice," said Homeland Security agent Billy Riggins. "First and foremost, this shows that no person is above the law," added attorney Clay Fowlkes.
Disturbing Charges
The verdict comes two years after Duggar's auto dealership was raided by Homeland Security. During the subsequent search, agents discovered computers and other devices in Duggar's possession that contained images of child sexual abuse.
Authorities were able to track activity from the devices – including viewing and saving pictures of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) – and used geolocation technology to confirm the activity took place at the auto dealership. At the time the material was accessed, records showed Duggar was the only paid employee on site.
They also uncovered evidence that Duggar had downloaded software to intentionally hide his internet activity.
During the trial, the defense maintained that Duggar was actually a victim of a crime – that he had been set up by somebody else and intentionally framed. Clearly, the jury didn't see it that way.
Duggar, now 33, was previously the center of a scandal when he was accused of molesting young girls during his teen years.
Family Reaction
One of Duggar's brother-in-laws posted on Twitter following the verdict:
Duggar's sister Jill and her husband shared a statement on their website:
"Today was difficult for our family. Our hearts go out to the victims of child abuse or any kind of exploitation. We are thankful for the hard work of law enforcement, including investigators, forensic analysts, prosecutors, and all others involved who save kids and hold accountable those responsible for their abuse. Josh’s actions have rippled far beyond the epicenter of the offense itself. Children have scars, but his family is also suffering the fallout of his actions. Our hearts are sensitive to the pains Josh’s wife, Anna, and their seven children have already endured and will continue to process in the future. This trial has felt more like a funeral than anything else. Josh’s family has a long road ahead. We stand with them, we are praying for them, and we will seek to support them however we can during this dark time." When it comes time for sentencing, Duggar could be put behind bars for as long as 20 years, as well as pay up to $500,000 in fines.
15 comments
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Carolyn Ann Vaughan
Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. There is that of Gods love in each soul, I shall hold him in prayer.
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Lionheart
And souls also have gods hate, if any god is in fact real, that is, assuming your god reference is the Christian god. The Christian god is very misogynistic, and is prone to anger management issues judging by his historic infanticide, and genocidal tendencies.
🦁❤️
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Rev. Elizabeth
I feel for his wife here. Her income is now gone. She is not educated enough for a high paying job to support 7 children. What man will want to be with her and 7 children? That is huge. I feel for Anna’s. Children as well. Their life has been upside down, Momma always crying and they don’t see their Daddy. I pray he did not molest any of his children. Anna needs to figure this out without hurting them psychologically. They have to be asked. I also feel for his siblings. They again lose another television show because of him and the embarrassment they endure in public because of him. I feel for his twin sister, Jana. This has to hurt all of them. I don’t feel sorry for his parents. They knew he was not ok and they didn’t get him serious help he needed and still does. I was molested by my step-father for 8-years. I was threatened for 8 years. When it finally came out and I was believed finally, several tries before and not believed, I was told it wasn’t my fault and that he is a sick man. That much they had right. It wasn’t my taught and he was a sick man. These people who do this to children are mentally ill. It is a mental illness. There is medication that stops them from doing this. The key is to make sure the medicine is being consumed. It works. I know someone who is a molester and is a whole new person on this medication. I still wouldn’t trust her with my young grandchildren though. She needs to not be around any children.
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Rev. Elizabeth
I feel for his wife here. Her income is now gone. She is not educated enough for a high paying job to support 7 children. What man will want to be with her and 7 children? That is huge. I feel for Anna’s. Children as well. Their life has been upside down, Momma always crying and they don’t see their Daddy. I pray he did not molest any of his children. Anna needs to figure this out without hurting them psychologically. They have to be asked. I also feel for his siblings. They again lose another television show because of him and the embarrassment they endure in public because of him. I feel for his twin sister, Jana. This has to hurt all of them. I don’t feel sorry for his parents. They knew he was not ok and they didn’t get him serious help he needed and still does. I was molested by my step-father for 8-years. I was threatened for 8 years. When it finally came out and I was believed finally, several tries before and not believed, I was told it wasn’t my fault and that he is a sick man. That much they had right. It wasn’t my taught and he was a sick man. These people who do this to children are mentally ill. It is a mental illness. There is medication that stops them from doing this. The key is to make sure the medicine is being consumed. It works. I know someone who is a molester and is a whole new person on this medication. I still wouldn’t trust her with my young grandchildren though. She needs to not be around any children.
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Peggyann Johnson-Hansen
I believe Justice won today. I pray that the judge will assign the maximum sentence in this case. The victims live with the trauma of these assults for life. To purchase the rape of children, who are the ages of Josh Duggar's children, brings to question if this father of seven raped his own children? From the beginning of Josh's leaning towards these behaviors his parents were responsible to secure professionals help for their son, Josh and his sisters he raped. It is rare to find these type of qualified professionals within the type of doctrinal spiritual community that the Duggars attended during the lives of their nineteen children.
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David Arthur Lewis
This story has nothing to do with religion. A rich criminal was convicted. His victims have not received justice.
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Robert James Ruhnke
It shows the dangers of fundamentalist Christianity. And if it were up to them. He’s not even be in jail. These theocrats are dominionists who seem sole control over humanity.
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Douglas Robert Spindler
Appears the guy really likes sex, and lots of it.
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jim Stewart
I worry about anyone who thanks child molesting is sex you may want to thank about your statement
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Douglas Robert Spindler
Jim did read what he crime and what he was convicted of? He wasn’t sexually abusing or molesting his children or making making or selling child pornography using his kids. He was convicted of downloading and consuming child pornography not creating it. How is looking at pictures child molestation? Priests and ministers who rape young boy and girls are child molesters. Think about your statement and see if you get the difference?
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Daniel Gray
then send his disgusting rear into prison and let all the prisoners know that he is a child molester. That will save us the cost of feeding him and housing him as he wont last a month with them knowing this unless he is put in protective custody and even then the chances of him surviving are small as Child Molesters dont last long in a federal prison.
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Nicholas J Page
Give the bastard the death penalty Hanging is too quick or better still keelhaul him.For those who don't know in the olden days before ships had steam then motors. A law breaker on board a ship.Would be tied to a rope the width of said ship and dragged under the keel and underwater so his body is cut against the barnacles under the ship or flog him with a cat o nine tails then rub salt into the wounds.Barbaric yes so is peadophillia
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Alicia Szot
Thank goodness! Now the whole cult (the Duggar family IS a cult) needs to be investigated! He didn't just molest "some young girls" when he was a teen....he diddled his SISTERS and a friend of theirs. The family lied and said they sent him to therapy, but they really just sent him to one of their extremist Christian friends.
Maybe now, his brainwashed wife will finally realize what a pig she was forced to marry and reproduce with!
This cult needs to be brought down. They're dangerous.
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Bishop William Dusenberry, DD
Just a reminder— almost anyone, who self-admits, actually accepting as the truth, supernatural religious mythologies, has been religiously-brainwashed (AKA, indoctrinated) while they were still young enough, to believe anything almost any adult told them.
As the Jesuits (and now former president Trump) found out, keep telling the same un-truths (lies, for short, and with more effect) over and over again, and eventually such brainwashed sheeple will believe any such lies.
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Crucify him and all pedophiles!