Former reality star Josh Duggar is in legal trouble regarding possession of child pornography. This is not his first legal battle regarding child exploitation.
If pronounced guilty, Duggar may receive a $250,000 fine. He is also liable to uptown 20 years in prison for each count of child sexual abuse. Duggar was arrested by United States Marshalls. On Thursday he was detailed on a federal hold at Washington County’s Detention Center. He is alleged to have downloaded child sexual abuse content online, featuring children less than twelve years old.
TLC’s former star has been charged with one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
This Friday he attended a United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas Court Hearing virtually through Zoom. He was charged. If given bail he will be prevented from being in a “residence where there’s no minor in the home”.
His attorneys Greg Payne, Travis W. Story, and Justin Gelfand put out in a statement “Josh Duggar has been charged in a two-count indictment. He has pled not guilty to both charges and we intend to defend this case aggressively and thoroughly. In this country, no one can stop prosecutors from charging a crime.” They continued by saying “…when you’re accused, you can fight back in the courtroom — and that is exactly what Josh intends to do.”
The former star was on multiple TLC shows about his massive family. He starred as a main character in 19 Kids and Counting. Its spinoff, Counting On been on for eleven seasons. The Duggar family is also frequently in tabloids and guests on other shows. In 2015 19 Kids and Counting was canceled by TLC due to sexual abuse scandals in Josh Duggar’s personal time. In 2015, he was under public scrutiny for infidelity as well as admitting to pornography addiction. Duggar was caught having a profile on the controversial website Ashley Madison. Ashley Madison was ultimately a dating website for married individuals to cheat on their spouses.
A 2006 police report was also unveiled regarding him inappropriately touching five minor girls as a teenager. Two of the accusers were his own sisters. This does not align with the conservative and faithful family man he has tried to present himself as to the public.
Duggar has a detention hearing on May 5 while the trial is currently set to be on July 6.
