Josh Duggar, a former star of TLC's "19 Kids and Counting," a reality program about a big family driven by strict Christian principles, was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison on Wednesday for downloading child sexual abuse material.
Mr. Duggar's collapse from oldest sibling on one of the most famous TV reality series to a convicted felon came to a close with his sentence in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, Ark., concluding a turnaround that began with his arrest in April 2021.
Mr. Duggar created a password-protected partition on the hard drive of his desktop computer at his used-car business in Springdale, Ark., in May 2019, according to prosecutors, to circumvent software that identifies graphic photos of children.
According to a sentencing memorandum submitted this month by the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas, Mr. Duggar, 34, who is married with seven children, downloaded about 600 images and seven films of horrific child sexual assault.
According to a written opinion submitted by Judge Timothy L. Brooks in August 2021, he was apprehended when a Little Rock police officer discovered an I.P. address that had been transmitting child sexual assault material. Judge Brooks noted that the detective forwarded the information to a US Department of Homeland Security agent, who eventually traced the I.P. address to Mr. Duggar.
In December, a jury found Mr. Duggar guilty of one count of receiving child pornography and one count of having child pornography after deliberating for two days. The maximum penalty for each offense is 20 years in jail and $250,000 in penalties.
Prosecutors sought a 20-year sentence, but Mr. Duggar's defenders requested only five. He was given a sentence of 12 years and 7 months in prison.
According to Justin K. Gelfand, one of Mr. Duggar's lawyers, Judge Brooks dropped the accusation of child pornography possession on Wednesday.
Mr. Gelfand went on to say that he and the rest of Mr. Duggar's defense team were relieved that the allegation had been dropped. He added in a statement following the sentencing, "We look forward to continuing the struggle on appeal."
On Wednesday, the US attorney's office did not immediately reply to emails or phone calls.
On Tuesday, Judge Brooks refused Mr. Duggar's lawyers' plea for an acquittal or a new trial, which they had submitted in January. The attorneys claimed that the prosecutors had failed to disclose certain material in a timely way, among other reasons.
Mr. Duggar and his siblings participated in "19 Kids and Counting," a reality show that followed the family's lives in Arkansas, from 2008 to 2015. After In Touch Weekly published on a 2006 police report alleging that Mr. Duggar had abused many females as a teenager, TLC canceled the show.
On Wednesday, representatives at Discovery, the firm that owns TLC, did not respond to emails or phone calls.
Mr. Duggar was not prosecuted for the prior charges because the statute of limitations had expired. Four of the five females he abused were his sisters, according to Mr. Duggar's parents, who told Fox News in 2015.
His parents claimed that they had taken him to counsel and had him speak with the cops.
"As a young adolescent, I acted inexcusably for which I am truly sorry," he said in a statement to People magazine at the time.
Mr. Duggar also resigned from his role as director of the hardline Family Research Council's lobbying arm.
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