Josh Duggar, former star of TLC's 19 Youngsters and Counting, was sentenced to 12 years in jail on Wednesday for possession of youngster pornography, with a choose recommending he serve his time in Seagoville federal jail in Texas.

In response to the New York Publish, Western District of Arkansas Choose Timothy Brooks advisable the jail in Seagoville as a result of it has a "good" program for intercourse offenders. Nevertheless, the choose additionally advisable one other jail, in Texarkana, Arkansas, however the remaining resolution might be decided by which facility has the correct mattress house.

The announcement on Wednesday comes greater than a yr after Duggar was first arrested for receiving and possessing youngster pornography in April 2021.

Josh Duggar
Josh Duggar, the star of "19 Youngsters and Counting," was sentenced to 12 years in jail. Above, a handout picture offered by the Washington County Sheriff’s Workplace exhibits Duggar at his reserving after his arrest April 29, 2021, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Handout/Getty

"In response to courtroom paperwork and proof introduced at trial, Joshua James Duggar, 34, of Springdale, repeatedly downloaded and seen pictures and movies depicting the sexual abuse of youngsters, together with pictures of prepubescent youngsters and depictions of sadistic abuse," the U.S. Lawyer's Workplace within the Western District of Arkansas mentioned in a press launch following Duggar's sentencing.

The press launch mentioned that in 2019, Duggar used a "password-protected partition" on the exhausting drive of his laptop to "keep away from pornography-detecting software program on the system."

"He then accessed the partition to obtain youngster sexual abuse materials from the web a number of instances over the course of three days in Might 2019. The password for the partition was the identical one he used for different private and household accounts," the press launch mentioned.

In response to the U.S. Lawyer's Workplace, Duggar downloaded the unlawful materials whereas accessing the darkish net and ultimately eliminated the information from his laptop.

Throughout an undercover operation in 2019, legislation enforcement officers in Arkansas detected Duggar's exercise with the web file-sharing program and ultimately seized his automobile and laptop. Following the investigation, authorities found "vital proof" connecting Duggar to the unlawful downloads, equivalent to footage on his cellphone that had been geolocated and timestamped textual content messages.

"On December ninth, 2021, a federal jury within the Western District of Arkansas convicted Duggar of receiving and possessing materials depicting minors engaged in sexually express conduct," the press launch mentioned.

In response to Folks journal, in December 2021, Duggar was discovered responsible of two counts of receiving and possessing youngster pornography; nonetheless, on Wednesday the courtroom agreed to vacate the second rely.

In an announcement despatched to Newsweek, Duggar's lawyer Justin Ok. Gelfand mentioned, "We're grateful the choose dismissed Depend 2 and rejected the Authorities's request for a 240-month sentence."

Gelfand continued, "We look ahead to persevering with the struggle on enchantment."