Josh Duggar found guilty on two counts of child pornography

by Mychael Schnell - 12/09/21 1:28 PM ET

A jury on Thursday found former TLC star Josh Duggar guilty of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Duggar’s trial began on Nov. 30 after he was arrested by federal authorities in April. Prosecutors alleged that Duggar, who starred on the TLC show “19 Kids and Counting,” had 200 or more images in his possession that illustrated the sexual abuse of children ranging from toddler age to 12 years old.

He now faces up to 20 years in prison and an up to $250,000 fine for each count.

Judge Timothy Brooke said Duggar’s sentence will occur at a later, undetermined date, KARK reported.

In Touch magazine reported in September 2016 that Duggar, the eldest of 19 children, molested multiple underage girls, including four of his sisters, when he was a teenager. The TLC star did not face any charges at the time.

The revelations did, however, prompt TLC to cancel “19 Kids and Counting,” and Duggar resigned from his position as executive director of the Family Research Council’s lobbying arm.

Duggar’s trial, which spanned six days, featured testimony from 10 prosecution witnesses and two defense witnesses, according to KARK.

Bobye Holt, a prosecution witness who claimed to be friendly with the Duggar family, testified that Josh Duggar told her he molested younger girls as a teenager, according to KARK.

The defense called Digital Forensics expert Michele Bush and Daniel Wilcox, a former Homeland Security Investigations task force member and Rogers Police Department narcotics officer, to the stand, according to KARK.

The jury entered deliberations on Dec. 8.

The eldest son’s pornography trial occurred at the same time his father, Jim Bob Dugger, is running for Arkansas state Senate. The seat opened up after longtime state Sen. Lance Eads (R) resigned from his post to join a company in the private sector.

He is one of four Republicans running for the GOP nomination in the race, according to KARK. The primary is scheduled for Dec. 14, but early voting kicked off on Dec. 7.