Joshua James Duggar (born March3, 1988) is an American convicted sex offender and former realitytelevision personality from the TLC series 19 Kids and Counting. Theeldest of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar's nineteen children, Duggar wasthe executive director of FRC Action, a lobbying political actioncommittee sponsored by the Family Research Council, from June 2013 toMay 2015. He left this position when news broke that he had molestedmultiple underage girls, including a victim under five years old,when he was aged 14–15.

These revelations led to thecancellation of 19 Kids and Counting on July 16, 2015. Duggar'spublicity woes were named one of the "10 Big Scandals of2015" by USA Today, and The Washington Post listed Duggar asone of the fifteen most hated people on the Internet for that year.

On April 29, 2021, Duggar was arrestedby U.S. Marshals on charges of receiving and possessing childpornography. He was found guilty on all charges on December 9, 2021.He was sentenced to over 12 years in prison on May 25, 2022.

Early life

Josh Duggar was born on March 3, 1988,in the city of Tontitown in Washington County, Arkansas, to JamesRobert and Michelle Annette Ruark Duggar. Duggar was homeschooled andpassed Arkansas's state test for a general equivalency diploma at theage of 16. He did not attend college.

Career

Reality television personality

Starting in 2005, Duggar appeared on anumber of reality television shows about his family, beginning with aprogram on Discovery Health when he was aged 17. The most prominentof these programs was the TLC series 19 Kids and Counting, whichdebuted in September 2008. Duggar's wedding was featured in anepisode broadcast on January 25, 2009, which included the planning,preparation, rehearsal, ceremony and reception. Duggar and his wifehave stated they saved their first kiss for their wedding day.

Multiple episodes document Duggar'schildren, including: "GrandDuggar's First Birthday",airing December 7, 2010, where Duggar celebrates his daughterMackynzie's first birthday and announces the expected birth of theirsecond child; "First Grandson", airing June 19,2011, which featured Duggar and his wife introducing their secondchild, Michael James; and "GrandDuggar Makes 3!",airing June 16, 2013, a Father's Day special introducing the Duggars'third baby, Marcus Anthony. A special titled "Josh &Anna: Our Story" aired on October 22, 2013, reviewed thecouple's first five years of marriage. Duggar and his wife announcedthe expected birth of their fourth child on an episode titled "Anna'sHaving A...", which aired May 12, 2015. The episode includedthe Duggars announcing the ultrasound showed they were having anothergirl.

Political activity

When Duggar was a teenager, his father,Jim Bob Duggar, was a two-term Republican member of the ArkansasHouse of Representatives. Duggar has also been active in conservativepolitics; while running a car dealership he worked as a part-timepolitical consultant in 2007 under the business name StrategicPolitical Services. In 2008, he worked on the Republican presidentialprimary campaign of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. In 2012,Duggar addressed rallies for the Republican presidential candidateRick Santorum of Pennsylvania.

From June 2013 to May 2015, he wasexecutive director of FRC Action, a political action and lobbyingorganization sponsored by the Family Research Council. Whendescribing his position with the organization, he stated that hewould be focused on "engaging the grassroots and taking themessage of faith, family and freedom all across America".FRC president Tony Perkins said that by hiring Duggar they hoped toappeal to more young people by tapping into the popularity of 19 Kidsand Counting. He further stated, "The big part of Josh'sfocus is going to be building our grass-roots across the country".While working at FRC Action, conservative Republican candidatesvalued Duggar as a way to advance their messages to his constituents.He campaigned for Senate candidates in Kansas, Mississippi, andVirginia before the 2014 midterm elections.

Duggar described his family as the"epitome of conservative values" and advocated forwhat he termed "family-centered" and conservativeChristian viewpoints, including opposition to abortion, divorce, andgay marriage. He has been referred to as an "anti-gayactivist" by GLAAD, a pro-LGBT rights organization.

Molestation charges

2006

In 2004 and 2006, the first fourtelevision specials featuring the Duggar family were released. InDecember 2006, the family was scheduled to appear on The OprahWinfrey Show. At this time, an anonymous source emailed OprahWinfrey's production company, Harpo Studios, and called the ArkansasChild Abuse Hotline to reveal Duggar's past sexual misconduct towardminors. Winfrey's producers alerted the Department of Human Servicesand canceled the Duggar family's appearance on the show.

As a result of these reports, aninvestigation by Springdale police was launched. Investigators spoketo Duggar's parents and several other family members, with the familydescribing the sexual misconduct that occurred in 2002 and 2003. Thefamily reported that no further incidents had occurred since Duggarreturned to the home in late 2003. Family members interviewed bypolice said that they felt safe in their home and had forgiven Duggarfor his past behavior.

Under Arkansas state law, child sexualabuse charges must be filed within three years of being reported to apolice officer to be within the statute of limitations. In July 2003,Duggar's father had taken him to meet Joseph Truman Hutchens, anArkansas State Trooper and family acquaintance. Because of thiscontact, the statute had started at that time and had run out by thetime of the 2006 investigation. As a result, no charges could befiled. Hutchens was himself convicted in 2012 of child sexual abuse.

2015

On May 21, 2015, a report by themagazine In Touch Weekly stated that Jim Bob Duggar had told theArkansas State Police that Josh had molested five underage girlsbetween 2002 and 2003, when he was 14 and 15 years old. According toa redacted police report obtained via a Freedom of Information Actrequest, four of the five molestation victims were Duggar's siblings.Jim Bob reported he had learned in March 2002 that Josh had touchedthe breasts and genital region of his sisters on multiple occasionswhile they were sleeping. Both parents stated that they were madeaware of the incidents when he confessed and that the girls wereinitially unaware the abuse had occurred. Jim Bob stated that Joshwas disciplined at home. In March 2003, Duggar's parents learned ofadditional incidents and victims, which included the touching of ababysitter, reaching under the dress of a younger sister who was inhis lap, and cornering a sister in the laundry room to reach underher clothing. The Duggars had also been told the abuse included amuch younger sister, who, according to the Duggars, "didn'tunderstand she had been improperly touched". At this time,Duggar's father brought the issue to the elders of their church.

Jim Bob informed police that he hadenrolled Josh in a program consisting of counseling and physicallabor after consulting with his church's leadership. Michelle statedhe was sent away from home for a period of three months to work for afamily friend who was remodeling a building. Later reports suggestthat Josh may have been sent to a facility in Little Rock owned bythe Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), a Christian ministryand training program founded by Bill Gothard, a Duggar family friend.It has not been established that the IBLP center in Little Rock wasopen for counseling during the time Josh was there, if the buildingwas renovated during this time period, or he was assisting with anysuch renovation.

When Josh returned home in July 2003,his father took him to meet Joseph Truman Hutchens, an Arkansas StateTrooper and family acquaintance. According to Josh and his parents,the meeting was the first time any law enforcement authority was madeaware of the abuse. According to Jim Bob, Josh admitted to Hutchensthat he had committed molestation and apologized. Speaking via alawyer, Hutchens disputed part of the account, saying he was onlytold of a single act of incestuous molestation and that he would haveresponded differently if he had known of additional instances andvictims. In an interview following this statement, Jim Bob claimedHutchens was told the entire story. Hutchens did not take anyofficial action but reportedly gave Josh a "stern talk".Under Arkansas state law, law enforcement officers, as mandatedreporters, are required to alert the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotlinewhen learning of sexual abuse. Hutchens was later arrested andconvicted on unrelated charges of child pornography and is currentlyserving a 56-year prison sentence.

Though Josh Duggar's misconduct waslargely unknown to the public before 2015, a blogger writing in 2007and identified only as "Alice" referred to thecanceled Oprah Winfrey Show appearance and stated that staff for theprogram had been told he was a "child molester". Theallegation circulated online for years but was not publiclycorroborated until the In Touch article revealed the police report.Immediately after the article was published, an unidentified victimwho was reportedly still a minor requested that any remainingproducts of the investigation be destroyed. State judge StaceyZimmerman granted this request to protect the unidentified victim'sprivacy.

Duggar resigned his position at FRCAction on May 21, 2015, on the same day the In Touch article waspublished. He stated that he "acted inexcusably" asa teen and said he was "deeply sorry" for what hecalled his wrongdoings. In response to his resignation, FRC presidentTony Perkins stated, "Josh believes that the situation willmake it difficult for him to be effective in his current work. Webelieve this is the best decision for Josh and his family at thistime. We will be praying for everyone involved."

In Touch reported in a June 3, 2015,article that another police report obtained by the magazine revealedthat Josh had confessed to his father, on three separate occasions,to committing child molestation, which had involved a much youngersister and seven incidents. The article also noted that the familywaited at least sixteen months before reporting the abuse toauthorities.

Testimony from both Jim and Bobye Holtrevealed that the sexual abuse inside the Duggar family home was farmore extensive than Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar claimed during their2015 interview with Megyn Kelly. The Holts revealed that theincidents were widespread and that Josh had touched his siblingsinappropriately multiple times. Jim Bob and Michelle once claimedJosh's victims were initially unaware anything had happened tothem. The Holts revealed that Jim Bob and Michelle's paststatements were untrue. They testified that at least one of thevictims reported an incident.

Debate over release of policereports

The Arkansas Freedom of Information Actstates that the records of a juvenile "shall remainconfidential" and "shall not be subject todisclosure under the FOI". Arkansas State Senator BartHester called for Springdale Police Chief Kathy O'Kelley to be fired,saying that she had re-victimized Duggar's victims by releasing hisrecords. Springdale city attorney Ernest Cate defended the release ofthe records, saying that while Duggar was a minor at the time of thealleged incidents, he was 18 in December 2006 when the police reportwas filed. He added that under these circumstances, the records couldbe released once minors' names, as well as any potentiallyidentifying pronouns, were redacted. Zimmerman ordered all copies ofthe report destroyed on May 21, 2015.

On June 5, 2015, Duggar's sisters Jessaand Jill gave an interview to Megyn Kelly on Fox News, discussing theabuse and the reports' release. Jessa called Duggar's actions as ateen "very wrong" and stated, "I do want tospeak up in his defense against people who are calling him a childmolester or a pedophile or a rapist, as some people are saying ...[T]hat is so overboard and a lie really ... I mean, people get mad atme for saying that, but I can say this because I was one of thevictims." She further stated that "the system wasset up to protect kids ... it's greatly failed", and thatthe week preceding the interview had been "a thousand timesworse for us" than the sexual abuse. Jill called the releaseof the police reports "a revictimization".

Admissions following Ashley Madisonbreach

On August 20, 2015, following theonline posting of information from the Ashley Madison data breach,which included records of credit card transactions under his name,Duggar and his parents released a statement on the family website inwhich he admitted to watching pornography on the Internet and beingunfaithful to his wife. According to the material obtained in thedata breach, Duggar's credit card was used to pay $986.76 for twoAshley Madison subscriptions starting in February 2013, which werecancelled in May 2015 shortly after the molestation allegationssurfaced.

The statement contained the following:"I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousingfaith and family values, I have secretly over the last several yearsbeen viewing pornography on the Internet and this became a secretaddiction and I became unfaithful to my wife" ... "thelast few years, while publicly stating I was fighting againstimmorality in our country I was hiding my own personal failures".The reference to pornography was later removed from the website.

On August 25, 2015, Duggar checkedhimself into a rehabilitation facility that his family described as a"long-term treatment center". The facility was laterconfirmed in media reports as Reformers Unanimous, which describesitself as "a learning atmosphere where the addicted can bedisciplined in an environment that is much like a greenhouse".

Sexual assault allegations

In November 2015, pornographic actressDanica Dillon filed suit against Duggar, claiming he had "assaultedher to the point of causing her physical and emotional injuries"during an episode of consensual sex at a Philadelphia strip clubearlier in the year. According to Dillon, the incident occurred aftershe had provided $600 worth of lap dances to Duggar. Dillon wasseeking $500,000 in damages from him. In February 2016, Dillon choseto drop the lawsuit.

2021 arrest, trial, and conviction

On April 29, 2021, U.S. Marshalsarrested Duggar on federal charges of receiving and possessing childpornography. Prosecutors allege that Duggar obtained the images inMay 2019 and it was acknowledged that a federal investigation by theoffice of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas hadbeen previously recommended after Duggar's used car dealershipWholesale Motorcars was searched by U.S. Homeland Security agents inNovember 2019 as a part of an initiative launched by the U.S.Department of Justice to protect children from sexual abuse andexploitation. The federal grand jury's indictment accuses Duggar ofhaving "knowingly" received pornographic images ofchildren who were under 12 years old. Following his arrest, Duggarwas booked into the Washington County Jail. On April 30, 2021, Duggarpleaded not guilty to one count each of charges of receiving andpossessing child pornography, with his attorneys indicating that hewould "fight back in the courtroom" against thecharges.

U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Erin L.Wiedemann said that, if Duggar were to be awarded bail, he would haveto be "in a residence where there's no minor in the home".At that time, Duggar's six children were under the age of 11, and hiswife Anna was pregnant with a seventh child. The seventh child wasborn in October 2021. Duggar was granted conditional bail at a bondhearing on May 5, and he was released from jail and transferred intothe custody of a third-party custodian. As part of the conditions forhis bail, Duggar was permitted to have contact with his children onlyin the presence of his wife. He was required to wear an anklemonitor, have a probation officer's permission to leave thethird-party custodians' home, could not access the internet, andcould not be inside a residence where firearms were stored.

Gerald Faulkner, a special agent forHomeland Security Investigations, stated the files on the computerwere "in the top five of the worst of the worst that I'veever had to examine". One of the videos allegedly inDuggar's possession, created by Peter Scully, depicts the rape andtorture of an 18-month-old toddler.

Trial

Duggar's trial date, originally set forJuly 6, was rescheduled for November 30, 2021. He did not meet anOctober deadline to accept a plea deal.

As of October 2021, Duggar's lawyersattempted to use procedural nuisances to get the case against himdismissed. The judge described the action of the lawyers as"frivolous". Further attempts by Duggar's lawyers tosuppress evidence against him similarly were denied by a judge. Theprosecution wanted to bring up sexual assault accusations madeagainst Duggar when he was a young teenager; the defense allegedthese charges were irrelevant and could prejudice a jury. A pretrialhearing was held on November 18, at which the judge demanded anevidentiary hearing. The evidentiary hearing was held on November 29in a Fayetteville court to determine if Duggar's father Jim BobDuggar and family friend Bobye Holt could testify as prosecutionwitnesses during his trial. During this three-hour hearing, both tookthe stand, with Holt testifying that Josh Duggar had fondled fouryounger girls since the age of 12.

The trial began on November 30 withjury selection. The same day, Duggar's lawyer filed a motion urgingthe presiding judge to dismiss "any further testimony" fromHolt. On December 1, 2021, opening statements took place after trialjudge Timothy L. Brooks denied the bid from Duggar's defense counselto have past abuse allegations dismissed as trial evidence. The sameday, Detective Amber Kalmer of the Little Rock Police Departmentbecame the first witness of the trial to testify. On December 3, anofficial from the Department of Justice testified that the hard drivein Duggar's computer had been partitioned into two sections: onewhich had Windows installed that he used mainly for business, and thesecond with Linux installed, which he used to download, access andshare child pornography. The accountability software Covenant Eyeshad been installed on the Windows side and was set to alert Duggar'sspouse when pornography was viewed, but the software could not detectwhat was accessed while the computer was using Linux. Husband andwife Jim and Bobye Holt were called as a witnesses for theprosecution. Jim Holt testified that Josh Duggar had asked him how tocreate the Linux partition on a computer in 2010, while Bobye Holtreiterated the same information that she testified on November