AFP
Washington (AFP) – Josh Duggar, who starred in a popular American reality television show espousing conservative values, was found guilty on Thursday of receiving and possessing child pornography.
Duggar, 33, is the eldest in a family of 19 children who appeared on the TLC network program “19 Kids and Counting,” which ran for 10 seasons before being cancelled in 2015.
A federal jury in Duggar’s home state of Arkansas found him guilty of downloading and viewing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Clay Fowlkes, the US Attorney for Western Arkansas, said the verdict “demonstrates that no person is above the law.”
“Regardless of wealth, social status, or fame, our office will continue to seek out all individuals who seek to abuse children and victimize them through the downloading, possession, and sharing of child pornography,” Fowlkes said.
Duggar faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
The long-running TLC show featured Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their nine sons and 10 daughters. They homeschooled their children and raised them in accordance with their strict Baptist faith.
Jim Bob Duggar, a Republican, served from 1999 to 2002 in the Arkansas state House of Representatives.
The show was cancelled in 2015 following allegations that Josh Duggar had molested young girls when he was a teenager, including some of his sisters.
Duggar was arrested on the child pornography charges in April of this year.
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