Josh Duggar: who is 19 Kids and Counting star convicted of child pornography charges and what is his sentence?

**Warning: disturbing details about child sexual abuse in article **

Former reality TV star Josh Duggar has been sentenced to over 10 years in prison for receiving child sexual abuse material.

He was given the sentence at a court in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Wednesday 24 May, one day after the judge denied a defence motion to overturn the guilty verdict on grounds of insufficient evidence or to order a new trial.

Duggar was arrested in April 2021 after a police detective discovered files were being shared by a computer which was traced to him.

So, who is Duggar, what was he charged with, and exactly how long was his sentence?

Here’s what you need to know.

Who is Josh Duggar?

Josh Duggar, whose full name is Joshua James Duggar,  age 34, was a star of the TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting.

The show followed his parents as they raised him and his many siblings in an ultraconservative Christian household. He is the eldest sibling.

The show was cancelled in 2015, amid the claims that Duggar had molested five young girls.

What sentence did Josh Duggar receive?

Josh Duggar was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison for receiving child sexual abuse material.

Prosecutors had asked that he serve the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while Duggar’s defence team had asked for five years.

“Duggar has a deep-seated, pervasive, and violent sexual interest in children,” Assistant US Attorney Dustin Roberts wrote in a sentencing memo.

In his own memo, Duggar’s defence attorney, Justin K. Gelfand asked the judge to “temper…justice with mercy”.

He said: “If ever there were a defendant standing before this Court who is as committed to never finding himself anywhere close to this situation again, it is Duggar.

“As he moves forward into the next chapter of his life, Duggar continues to have so much good to offer the world.”

After a lengthy hearing, during which a number of objections from the defence were heard,  District Judge Timothy Brooks sentenced Duggar to 151 months in prison.

What happened during Josh Duggar’s trial?

At a trial in Fayetteville, Arkansas in December 2021, Duaggr was convicted of receiving and posessing child sexual abuse material.

The judge dismissed the conviction for possessing child sexual abuse material after ruling that under federal law, the offence was included in the count of  receiving child abuse images.

During the trial, one investigator described a video found in Duggar’s possession as among the worst he had ever seen.

Authorities described Duggar as a “very savvy computer user” who tried to cover his tracks as he downloaded “sadistic and masochistic abuse” material in 2019.

Prosecutors said he downloaded 600 images and videos of children being abused, including prepubescent girls being raped, whipped, threatened with knives, and held naked in a dog cage.

As evidence of the threat he posed, prosecutors also talked about Duggar’s past molestation of five young girls, including his four younger sisters, and while some of them were sleeping.

This abuse took place around 2002, when Duggar was a teenager.

Duggar’s attorney argued that he has had to navigate “unique challenges associated with being in the public spotlight since childhood” and said he was devoted to his faith and family.

But prosecutors said that by downloading the child sexual abuse material, Duggar had helped perpetuate the abuse by driving production.

They also produced a statement from the mother of one of the unidentified victims who appeared in the material Duggar downloaded.

“My daughter is a real person. She was horribly victimised to provide this source of ‘entertainment.

“She is exploited anew each and every time an image of her suffering is copied, traded, or sold.”

The woman also passed on a message from her daughter to Duggar.

She said: “Don’t you know no one should do that to a little girl! Don’t you know it hurts!”

Does Josh Duggar have a wife and a family?

Josh Duggar does have a wife called Anna Duggar. The couple married in September 2008, after meeting two years earlier at a homeschooling convention.

Anna Duggar was in court to hear the sentencing, alongside Duggar’s father Jim Bob.

Duggar and his wife have seven children. The couple share daughter Mackynzie, 12, son Michael, 10, son Marcus, 8, daughter Meredith, 6, son Mason, 4, and daughter Maryella, 3, and daughter Madyson, 6 months.

Duggar’s wife and his mother, Michelle, both wrote letters to the judge to plead with him to allow Duggar to be reunited with his family again soon.

Not all Duggar’s family have been supportive of him, however.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, his cousin Amy Duggar King said he should receive the “harshest sentence” possible.

His younger sister Jinger Duggar and her husband Jeremy Vuolo also called his crimes a "horrific evil."

Another younger sister, Jill Duggar, and her husband Derick Dillard both condemned him after a jury found him guilty at the trial in December 2021.