prosecutors seek maximum sentence


Prosecutors are asking for the maximum sentence against Josh Duggar, a former American reality TV star, accused of child pornography.

Josh Duggar continues to claim his innocence, but prosecutors wanted the maximum sentence against him. The former American reality TV star was convicted last December of child pornography. Federal prosecutors this week asked for a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars, denouncing his “deep, pervasive and violent sexual interest in children”, reports the site Oxygen . They submitted a 30-page document to Federal Court for the Western District of Arkansas detailing why they believe the 34-year-old should face the harshest possible sentence for downloading ‘depraved’ child pornography material. “. “This depravity is evident here. As noted above, Duggar researched images and videos showing prepubescent minors subjected to sadistic and masochistic abuse,” they wrote.

Josh Duggar was indicted in April 2021 after child pornography material was found on his work computer. His lawyers say someone else downloaded or placed those images on the device, noting that nothing was found on the defendant’s phone or laptop. They demand a “sufficient sentence of 5 years in prison, no more”, recalling that he “continues to have so much good to offer the world”. But federal prosecutors presented jurors during the trial with detailed evidence, showing minute-by-minute activity found on Josh Duggar’s computer that alternated between allegedly sending personal messages, downloading child pornography and recording of pictures.

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Already involved in several cases

Josh Duggar is the eldest of the Duggar family, star for years of the reality TV show “19 Kids and Counting”, on the TLC channel, which followed the adventures of this particularly conservative Arkansas Baptist family and who posed as a model of Christian values. The latter had already been at the heart of the scandal in 2015 when he was accused of multiple sexual offenses – including forcible touching of five minors. According to TMZ, among the victims would be some of his little sisters. In particular, he would have caressed the genitals and the chest of the children, some of them while they were sleeping. According to the investigation report, Josh’s father was alerted in March 2002 by one of his victims. At the time, he was only 14 years old. The parents had chosen not to notify the authorities, preferring to “discipline” their son.

The silence was kept until 2006. That year, when the family was to appear on the Oprah Winfrey show, an email was sent by a person whose identity was never revealed. to the program team to warn them of the accusations hanging over Josh. The production had transferred it to the social services which had opened an investigation. The parents of the accused explained to the police that Josh had apologized to his victims, and that they had forgiven him. He then claimed to have turned to God for help. Despite the confessions and testimonies, the police had to drop the charges, the statute of limitations having passed. These revelations had only been publicly revealed in 2015 by “In Touch” and Josh had admitted the facts, explaining in a press release addressed to “People” that what he had done was “inexcusable”. “Twelve years ago, when I was a young teenager, I had an inexcusable attitude for which I am deeply sorry and regret. I hurt people, including my family and close friends. I confessed to my parents who took several steps to help me. We spoke to the authorities, to whom I confessed my mistakes. (…) I understood that if I continued to follow this path, I was going to end up ruining my life”, he had declared.



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