According to the judgement entered in the United States District Court Western District of Arkansas Fayetteville Division on Thursday, a jury found reality TV star Josh Duggar guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography.
In a statement, Duggar’s attorney, Justin Gelfand, said, “We appreciate the jury’s thorough deliberations, we accept the jury’s verdict, and we intend to appeal.”
According to the US Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas, Duggar was arrested on April 29 and arraigned on April 30 on federal counts of receiving and possessing child pornography. The US attorney’s office said in a statement that he allegedly downloaded material depicting the sexual assault of children under the age of 12. He has entered a not guilty plea to both allegations.
Special Agent Gerald Faulkner of the Department of Homeland Security testified on the investigation into Duggar.
Pornography containing young children was discovered on a desktop computer at Duggar’s business in Springdale, Arkansas, according to Faulkner.
According to Faulkner, one of the files depicted children aged 18 months to 12 years old. Those photographs are “in the top five of the worst I have ever had to examine,” according to Faulkner, who has worked as an investigator for 11 years.
Duggar is the oldest son of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, whose big family and staunch conservative Christian upbringing were chronicled on TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting.” After allegations that Josh Duggar abused girls when he was a teenager, the show was discontinued in 2015. In response to the charges, he was never charged.
After his information was leaked after the website was hacked, Duggar acknowledged to using Ashley Madison, a website designed to help married individuals cheat on their spouses.
On their family website, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar issued a statement regarding their son’s “extremely serious claims.”
“We are grateful for your continuing prayers for our family at this difficult time. The charges levelled against Joshua today are extremely severe. Our hope is that the truth, whatever it is, will be revealed and that everything will be addressed in a timely manner. We adore Josh and Anna and continue to pray for them and their loved ones “they stated
