Josh Duggar’s Child Pornography Case: Everything We Know About the Arrest and Trial

Josh Duggar faced up to 20 years in prison after being convicted of possessing and receiving child porn in late 2021, which he was later officially sentenced to.

One day after news broke in April 2021 that the 19 Kids and Counting alum was arrested in Arkansas on the child pornography charges, Us Weekly confirmed that he was indicted on the counts.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas revealed the nature of the charges in a press release on April 30, 2021.

“A Springdale man was arrested yesterday for receiving and possessing material depicting the sexual abuse of children,” the release began. “According to court documents, Joshua James Duggar, 33, allegedly used the internet to download child sexual abuse material. Duggar allegedly possessed this material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, in May 2019.”

Josh, the eldest child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, was detained without bond. He was released from jail in May 2021 and was allowed to see his children with supervised visits — though he was not allowed to live with them. The news ​of Josh’s April arrest came days after his wife, Anna Duggar, announced that the pair are expecting their seventh child.

The twosome, who wed in 2008, share seven kids: Mackynzie (born October 2009), Michael (June 2011), Marcus (June 2013), Meredith (July 2015), Mason (September 2017) and Maryella (November 2019) Madyson Lilly (born October 2021).

​While the Duggars have acknowledged Josh’s behavior was wrong, multiple family members — including Anna, Michelle and Jim Bob — have publicly supported Josh and attended his trial. In May 2022, Michelle and Anna sent letters to the judge praising him and pleading that he get the minimum sentence of five years.

After delays, Josh was sentenced on May 25, 2022. Scroll through for everything we know about the case.