Josh Duggar found guilty of child pornography
By Melissa Alonso, CNN
A jury on Thursday found reality TV star Josh Duggar guilty of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to the judgement filed in the United States District Court Western District of Arkansas Fayetteville Division.
“We appreciate the jury’s lengthy deliberations, we respect the jury’s verdict, and we intend to appeal,” said Justin Gelfand, Duggar’s attorney, in a statement to CNN.
Duggar was arrested on April 29 and arraigned on April 30 on federal charges of receipt and possession of child pornography, according to the US Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas. He allegedly downloaded material that depicted the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, the US attorney’s office said in a statement. He has pleaded not guilty to the two charges.
Homeland Security Special Agent Gerald Faulkner testified on the investigation into Duggar.
Faulkner detailed to the court that pornography containing young children was found on a desktop computer at Duggar’s business in Springdale, Arkansas.
One of the files, according to Faulkner, depicted children ranging from 18 months to 12 years of age. Faulkner said in his 11 years of being an investigator those images are “in the top five of the worst I have ever had to examine.”
Duggar is the oldest son of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar, whose large family and devout conservative Christian upbringing were the subject of the TLC show “19 Kids and Counting.” The show was canceled in 2015 in the wake of allegations that Josh Duggar molested girls when he was a teenager. He was never charged in relation to those allegations.
That same year, Duggar admitted that he had used Ashley Madison, a website designed to help married people cheat on their spouses, after his name was released when the website was hacked.
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar posted a statement on their family website about the “very serious accusations” their son is facing.
“We appreciate your continued prayers for our family at this time. The accusations brought against Joshua today are very serious. It is our prayer that the truth, no matter what it is, will come to light, and that this will all be resolved in a timely manner. We love Josh and Anna and continue to pray for their family,” they said.
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CNN’s Gregory Lemos, Jamiel Lynch, Dakin Andone, Eric Levenson and Amir Vera contributed to this report.
