Josh Duggar, the eldest of a 19-child American family who has championed conservative family values on television, was found guilty on Thursday of uploading and possessing child pornography in a federal court in Arkansas.
For seven years, from 2008 to 2015, the Duggar family, with traditionalist Christian values, took the stage on the reality TV channel TLC, before the accusations against Josh, the first of the Duggar children, precipitated the downfall. from the program.
In April, the 33-year-old was arrested after the discovery of child pornography images on his laptop, then sent to federal court in Arkansas, the central state of the United States where the family grew up. .
Jailed Thursday after the verdict, Josh Duggar will know his sentence in about four months. The man faces 20 years in prison and up to $ 500,000 in fines.
According to the family story, a miscarriage of the mother, Michelle, decided the couple she forms with her husband Jim Bob to stop using contraception. “We read in the Bible that children are a blessing and a gift from God,” they say on their website.
The sequel was the hyper-media coverage of their lifestyle choices, with the program “19 kids and counting” – “19 children, and it’s not over” – broadcast on TLC from 2008.
Close to the Republican Party, they were also on the front lines of many anti-gay and anti-abortion rallies.
In 2015, Josh had already embarrassed his family by admitting to sexual assaults, including some against his own sisters, causing the shutdown of the reality TV show.
Josh Duggar’s lawyers have announced to the local press their intention to appeal the ruling.
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