Josh Duggar, who appeared in TLC's "19 Kids and Counting," has been found guilty after facing two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography.
The jury in Fayetteville, Arkansas, found the 33-year-old Duggar guilty on one count each of receiving and possessing child pornography. He faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 for each count when he’s sentenced at a later date.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks announced that sentencing will take place in about four months. Duggar was taken into custody after the verdict was announced, according to Fayetteville station KNWA.
One of Duggar's lawyers, Justin Gelfand, issued a statement to USA TODAY. “We appreciate the jury’s lengthy deliberations, we respect the jury’s verdict, and we intend to appeal,” the statement said.
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, Clay Fowlkes, also issued a statement, saying the verdict "sends the message" that child sexual abuse cases are a top priority for prosecutors.
"This verdict also demonstrates that no person is above the law," the statement said. "Regardless of wealth, social status or fame, our office will continue to seek out all individuals who seek to abuse children and victimize them through the downloading, possession, and sharing of child pornography.”
Josh Duggar trial:Everything we know we know about the child pornography charges
Federal authorities said they began investigating Duggar after a Little Rock police detective found child porn files were being shared by a computer traced to Duggar. A federal agent testified in May that images depicting the sexual abuse of children, including toddlers, were downloaded in 2019 onto a computer at a car dealership Duggar owned.
The trial, originally scheduled for July, was postponed to November. A jury was seated in the case Nov. 30 and saw testimony from computer analysts on both sides and a family friend who testified that Duggar admitted to molesting four young girls in 2003.
Prosecutors' first witness was a computer analyst who testified Duggar's workplace computer where the child pornography was found included an operating system that allowed the system to evade a tracking program.
The analyst testified that the partition essentially split the computer’s hard drive into a public-facing side that was business-related and included the tracking program and a secret second side that used a Linux system and the browser, experts said.
The Linus system allowed anyone using the computer to evade an accountability program installed to report to Duggar’s wife about inappropriate internet activity, such as searching for pornography.
Defense attorneys also called to the stand as their first witness a computer analyst, who testified that it's possible Duggar's computer could have been accessed remotely.
Duggar's trial began as his father, Jim Bob Duggar, announced he would be running in a special election for a vacant state Senate seat in northwest Arkansas. It also arrived just weeks after Anna Duggar gave birth to the couple's seventh child together.
Duggar was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to online government records, and booked into jail April 29 in Washington County, Arkansas. Duggar was released from jail in May after appearing virtually in federal court in Arkansas for a detention hearing on the charges.
A federal grand jury in the Western District of Arkansas indicted Duggar, alleging that in 2019 he "knowingly" received images of children under the age of 12.
"Duggar allegedly possessed this material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children," a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The Duggar family rose to fame with their TLC show "19 Kids and Counting," which chronicled the personal life of Arkansas parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. Josh is their eldest son.
TLC canceled "19 Kids and Counting" in 2015 following a sexual abuse scandal involving revelations that he had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter when he was a young teen. At that time, he admitted to a porn addiction and cheating on his wife, and apologized.
Over the objections of Duggar's defense team, the judge in the child porn case ruled that jurors could hear testimony about how in 2003, Duggar admitted to molesting the girls. A family friend also testified that Duggar told her about the abuse.
Local Arkansas authorities had investigated the allegations of abuse in 2006 after receiving a tip from a family friend but concluded that the statute of limitations on any possible charges had expired. Duggar’s parents said he had confessed to the fondling and apologized.
The series' spinoff "Counting On" features storylines focusing on his sisters and their young families.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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