Josh Duggar’s sentence has been extended by nearly 2 months
Josh Duggar appears in a Washington County Jail mug shot.
Disgraced reality TV star Josh Duggar had his 12 1/2-year sentence extended by nearly two months after authorities reportedly discovered he had a contraband cell phone.
In December 2021, a federal jury in Arkansas found Duggar guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography that depicts the sexual abuse of victims “as young as toddlers.” Months later, US District Judge Timothy Brooks sentenced Duggar to more than a dozen years behind bars. He is serving his sentence in a low-security prison in Seagoville, Texas.
Prosecutors found the verdict justified by the “corrupted” material found behind multiple layers of encryption on his work computer. An infamous video titled “Daisy’s Destruction” showed the sexual assault of an 18-month-old child and was created by Australian trafficker Peter Scully, who is currently serving a life sentence for his crimes in the Philippines.
The government estimates it found more than 600 illegal images on Duggar’s computer, although his lawyers dispute that number. Duggar continues to deny committing the crimes while filing an appeal.
In February, several news outlets reported that prison authorities transferred Duggar to solitary confinement after discovering he had “smuggled” a cell phone into prison. A family member of an inmate at the same prison told The Sun that assignments to what is known as the Special Housing Unit (SHU) typically last for months. Given the crimes of Duggar’s convictions, obtaining electronic equipment would have been of particular concern to prison authorities.
Prosecutors say Duggar went to great lengths to avoid incarceration. His work computer had anti-porn software called “Covenant Eyes,” which he installed after a data dump from the Ashley Madison website was hacked and revealed he had been engaged in extramarital affairs. The software would have alerted his wife, Anna Duggar, if he had accessed pornography, legal or otherwise.
Duggar subverted this system by installing a Linux partition on the computer and then accessing videos and images depicting child sexual abuse through multiple layers of encryption. Prosecutors say he used the Tor browser to disguise his web browsing and downloaded illegal materials using BitTorrent.
Federal prison records show his release date was scheduled for October 2, 2032. His release was previously scheduled for August 12, 2032, Fox News reported.
Before his sudden fall, Duggar appeared on the TLC series 19 Kids and Counting with his mother, father, nine brothers and nine sisters. The conservative Christian activist previously weathered scandals with the revelation of the Ashley Madison hack, followed by reports that he molested his sisters when he and she were minors. He was 12 at the time and they were at least three years young. Josh Duggar later apologized for unspecified “misconduct.” in touch weekly published a police report on these incidents.
Prosecutors called the unprosecuted allegations of “hands-on abuse” a prelude to his convicted crimes.
“This is no coincidence,” they wrote.
Duggar’s federal prison in Texas did not immediately respond to Law&Crime’s request for comment. Neither does Duggar’s trial attorney.
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https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/josh-duggars-12-5-year-prison-sentence-extended-after-cellphone-reportedly-found-in-his-lockup/ Josh Duggar’s sentence has been extended by nearly 2 months
