Josh Duggar will stay in jail for a lot of extra years, after his attraction for a brand new youngster pornography trial was rejected.
Duggar, whose giant household was the main focus of TLC’s 19 Children and Counting, was convicted in 2021 for downloading youngster intercourse abuse photos and is presently serving a 12.5-year jail sentence.
Court docket paperwork obtained by a number of media shops present that the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit selected to affirm the fact star’s earlier judgement in his youngster porn case final week, that means he’ll proceed to serve out his sentence.
It additionally means he received’t be launched from jail till Oct. 2023.
Federal authorities investigated Duggar after Little Rock police detectives discovered youngster sexual abuse materials was being shared by a pc traced to Duggar. Investigators testified that photos depicting the sexual abuse of kids, together with toddlers, had been downloaded in 2019 onto a pc at a automobile dealership Duggar owned.
In April of 2021 he was arrested by Homeland Safety and held with out bond, till his trial eight months later.
FILE – On this Aug. 29, 2014, file photograph, Josh Duggar, government director of FRC Motion, speaks in favor the Ache-Succesful Unborn Little one Safety Act on the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark.
AP Picture/Danny Johnston, File
His lawyer filed an attraction in October of final 12 months, asking for a brand new trial, and through a February 2023 listening to lawyer Justin Gelfand argued that his shopper’s cellphone was seized whereas Duggar was attempting to acquire authorized illustration when federal brokers raised his office forward of his 2021 arrest.
Duggar’s legal professionals additionally argued that statements he made to investigators throughout the search of the enterprise mustn’t have been allowed at trial since his lawyer wasn’t current. Prosecutors stated Duggar requested the brokers, “What is that this all about? Has any individual been downloading youngster pornography?” and that he declined to say whether or not he had checked out such materials on-line, feedback that had been later used as proof within the trial.
The appeals panel stated that though Duggar was learn his rights, the brokers questioning him made it clear that he wasn’t in custody and was free to go away. The panel additionally famous that he wasn’t arrested on the finish of his questioning.
“On the contrary, he ended the interview on his personal after which left the dealership — hardly an possibility accessible to somebody in custody,” the courtroom dominated.
TLC canceled 19 Children and Counting in 2015 following allegations that Duggar had molested 4 of his sisters and a babysitter years earlier. Authorities started investigating the abuse in 2006 after receiving a tip from a household pal however concluded that the statute of limitations on any attainable fees had expired.
On this Aug. 2, 2007 file photograph, Michelle Duggar, left, poses together with her husband Jim Bob, second from left, and kids, together with their oldest son Josh, tallest standing, after the beginning of her seventeenth youngster in Rogers, Ark.
Beth Corridor / The Related Press
Duggar’s dad and mom stated after the allegations resurfaced in 2015 that he had confessed to the fondling and apologized privately. Duggar then apologized publicly for unspecified conduct and resigned as a lobbyist for the Household Analysis Council, a conservative Christian group. Months later, he additionally publicly apologized for dishonest on his spouse and admitted to having a pornography dependancy, for which he then sought remedy.
— with information from The Related Press
© 2023 International Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
