A judge is expected to sentence this weekend the eldest son of TLC’s TV reality couple 19 Kids and Counting, Josh Duggar, for possessing child pornography after a jury found him guilty.
Duggar, 27, was known for his courting and helping raise his siblings in the controversial family from TLC’s reality show, 19 Kids and Counting.
For his part, Duggar has taken the legal case against him much more personally than most of the jurors.
According to TMZ, Duggar spoke publicly about the trial shortly after jurors retired to deliberate his fate. Duggar has repeatedly asked for more time to prepare for his trial, usually claiming he is having financial problems, or claiming he would not stand for a jury trial if there was one.
“As I have said in the past, this has been a very difficult time,” Duggar told TMZ. “I look forward to the opportunity for my case to be heard and for a fair outcome that will provide resolution for all parties involved.”
On Tuesday, Duggar stood in front of Fulton County Circuit Court Judge Timothy L. Fee in Jacksonville, a courthouse in suburban Atlanta. The judge presided over the case without a jury.
Duggar was ordered by the judge to meet with Duggar’s lawyers and preparation for his sentencing, which is scheduled for Saturday morning.
“I understand you’re hopeful that a lower standard of punishment can be met by a jury, but if you feel that way you need to come forward,” Judge Fee told Duggar as the trial concluded.
Fee said “It’s not for the court to be deciding the outcome,” but that would become the case if Duggar “hears us out” and decides to plead his case.
After the verdict, Fee continued his cross-examination, asking Duggar if he is not making a “substantial misrepresentation” when he claimed that he and his family “appreciate” the jurors’ time.
“I understand that but I also understand the personal interest in not running from it,” Fee said.
Duggar said he had told the “court and the court clerk several times, multiple times in fact,” that he was scared that they could not be fair. He also told the judge that he had sent the children home after the trial when he learned he would not be going to trial.
Fee said he would award Duggar $200,000 if the jury was required to impose any additional punishment.
Fee also revoked Duggar’s right to be free from pre-trial incarceration due to the large amount of evidence against him.
Duggar was accused of knowingly purchasing child pornography via a peer-to-peer network. In 2015, he came forward to speak publicly about molesting several young girls, including five of his sisters, when he was 14 and 15. When he and his sisters did come forward with the accusations, he was immediately taken out of his family’s reality show and admitted to several of the accusations made against him by his sister and their parents.
The entire family left his parents’ home after his confession and returned home to Arkansas, where he has said he sought therapy.
Duggar, who was already working as a used car salesman, got involved in the used car business as the scandal began to take a public eye. The Duggar family has always been known for showing a strong interest in used cars, advertising on their own television show and being involved in real estate.
As Duggar’s father Jim Bob had said before he could no longer work with his sons, the boys of the Duggar family have taken over the family’s used car business since his departure.
On Tuesday, Duggar’s wife Anna was not allowed to be at the trial in person because of illness.