Josh Duggar, 35, is set to serve his prison sentence until 2032 as the appeal he filed for a new trial over his child pornography case has been rejected.
Duggar’s case drew international attention following his April 2021 arrest as he was initially known as a reality star on the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting.
And on 5 October, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit court documents, seen by Fox News Digital, confirmed that Duggar will remain in prison until 2032.
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Duggar’s appeal was filed in 2021 after a federal jury in Arkansas found him guilty. Following the conclusion of his appeal, he will continue to serve his full 12-and-a-half year prison sentence.
UNILAD has contacted Duggar’s attorney for comment.
In May 2022, Duggar was sentenced to 151 months by a federal jury in Arkansas in prison on charges related to the receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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Little Rock Police detectives had found child sexual abuse material that was being shared by a computer traced to him.
During the court case, investigators testified that images that depicted sexual abuse of children were downloaded in 2019 on a computer at a car dealership that the former reality TV star owned.
Duggar’s lawyers also claimed that federal agents had seized his phone during a car raid when he tried to contact his lawyers.
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During an appeal hearing in Missouri on 16 February 2023, Duggar’s attorney, Justin Gelfand, said: “[Duggar] takes out his phone, physically puts it to his ear… for the purpose of contacting his legal counsel.
“Federal agents physically took the phone out of his hand and deprived him of the ability to communicate with his legal counsel. He was told he was free to go. "No reasonable person in his shoes at that time would believe that.”
However, prosecution said that Duggar had not been informed that he was in custody so he had the right to leave and call his lawyer anytime.
Prior to his arrest, in 2015, Duggar faced allegations that he had molested multiple girls as a teenager.
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This resulted in his sisters, Jessa and Jill, coming forward to claim that they were also victims.
Allegations against Duggar predate 2015, however, as a family friend had sent a tip to authorities in 2006, according to the Seattle Times.
The investigations concluded due to the fact that the statute of limitations had passed, and he was not charged with any crime.
The 2015 allegations resulted in the 19 Kids and Counting show being cancelled and Duggar issued an apology for marital infidelity and a pornography addiction and sought treatment at the time.
Gerrard Kaonga