Former reality TV star Josh Duggar was sentenced Wednesday to about 12 1/2 years in prison on a conviction of receiving child pornography, the Associated Press reports. Duggar was convicted of possessing child pornography in December, but a judge dismissed that conviction after ruling that, under federal law, it was an included offense in the receiving child pornography count. Prosecutors had asked for the maximum term of 20 years for Duggar, whose large family was the focus of TLC's "19 Kids and Counting". They argued that he has a "deep-seated, pervasive and violent sexual interest in children." The judge sentenced Duggar to 12 years and seven months in prison Duggar maintains his innocence and will appeal.
Duggar was arrested in April 2021 after a Little Rock police detective found child porn files were being shared by a computer traced to Duggar. Investigators testified that images depicting the sexual abuse of children, including toddlers, were downloaded in 2019 onto a computer at a car dealership Duggar owned. TLC canceled "19 Kids and Counting" in 2015 after allegations that Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter years earlier. In 2015, Duggar apologized publicly for unspecified behavior. Months later, he apologized for cheating on his wife and for having a pornography addiction, for which he sought treatment.