Josh Duggar, a former reality television personality, was found guilty by a jury in Arkansas on federal charges of obtaining and watching images and videos showing child sexual abuse on Thursday, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Duggar, 33, was a cast member of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting, a drama about a conservative Christian marriage and their 19 children. He pleaded not guilty to the allegations in April, despite previously apologizing for a pornography addiction.
Duggar was found guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography by a jury in Fayetteville. When he is convicted, he could face up to 20 years in jail and fines of up to $250,000 for each offense.
After allegations that Duggar had molested five girls, including four of his sisters, the show was canceled in 2015. He published a statement at the time admitting to his acts and quit his position as director of a conservative advocacy group, but he was not charged criminally.
Prosecutors claim Duggar installed a Linux partition on a laptop to trick software that monitors internet usage. A Linux partition allows users to separate hard drives into isolated portions.
Federal investigators claimed in an Arkansas court that they began investigating Duggar after a detective in Little Rock discovered child pornography on a computer linked to him.
The photographs of sexual assault, which featured toddlers, were downloaded in 2019 to a computer that investigators tracked back to a car dealership owned by Duggar, a federal agent testifying in May said.
"We will continue to seek out all individuals who seek to abuse children and victimize them through the downloading, possession and sharing of child pornography, regardless of wealth, social status or fame," U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes of the western district of Arkansas said.
Duggar's parents claimed he confessed and apologized for his lewd acts. Duggar publicly apologized for undefined behavior at the time and resigned as a lobbyist for the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian organization.
The material had not been downloaded or transferred to the computer, Duggar's defense attorneys said.
Fayetteville TV station KNWA reported U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks estimated sentence will take around four months.
Duggar apologized for his pornography addiction and cheating on his wife, referring to himself as "the worst hypocrite ever."
Duggar's lawyer claimed that the photographs were downloaded or posted into Duggar's computer by someone else. The jury, however, was not convinced.
