It appears that 2021 just may be the year for the takedown of serial child sex abusers, and this latest verdict of legal charges against Josh Duggar seems a fitting way to end the year. We can recall that back in September of 2021, and it was R&B singer R. Kelly who was found guilty on charges of sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, racketeering, and sex trafficking. He had been suspected of the deviant acts for over a decade but had been dismissed before.
Taken from an article on TMZ, the 33-year-old was found guilty on two counts of child pornography in front of a jury in the U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and is being held in custody at the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Josh Duggar was charged with one count of receiving child pornography and another count of possessing the footage. Each charge carries with it a maximum of 20 years and a $250,000 fine, bringing his penalty to 40 years in prison and half a million dollars in fines.
The verdict reached on December 9 has been months in the making. According to The New York Times, Duggar had been arrested back in April in connection with downloading explicit material portraying sexual assault to children younger than 12. The most ironic part about the conviction of this famous personality is that he starred in the TLC show, 19 Kids and Counting, which is a reality show focused on a large family holding to their core conservative Christian values. To be convicted of such a crime after upholding such high levels of morality on a family-oriented show is like a police officer being charged for drunk driving while driving the patrol car; it's downright hypocritical.
Despite the evidence being found on Mr. Duggar's computer, he insists on his innocence and had pleaded not guilty, his lawyers confirming that with their decision to contest the jury's decision.
They said this in a statement following the verdict, "We appreciate the jury's lengthy deliberations, we respect the jury's verdict, and we intend to appeal."
Mr. Duggar's dark past appears to follow him, and this was evident in 2015 when TLC pulled all episodes of 19 Kids and Counting after a 2006 police report resurfaced involving Duggar and the molestation of four to five girls - four of which were family relatives. At the time, he was only 14, along with R. Kelly, Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Sylvester Stallone, and numerous other big-name Hollywood stars who have succumbed to a similar fate.
Sources: TMZ, The New York Times