Is TLC star Josh Duggar a pedophile? Delve into the disturbing charges

Remember Josh Duggar, the former star from the TLC hit TV show 19 Kids and Counting? Well, the now thirty-three-year-old man has just been arrested in Arkansas on Thursday, April 29th for child porn charges and has pleaded not guilty. However, the evidence has only seemed to stack up against him to prove him guilty. Read the details all about this disturbing case here. 

The arrest & allegations

So what’s everything that Josh Duggar has been accused of? The thirty-three-year-old former star allegedly had been using the internet to download child sexual abuse material, according to a statement from a press release written by the United States Department of Justice. Duggar had “allegedly possessed this material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, in May 2019”.

Currently, the TLC star is charged with receiving and having child pornography in possession. If Josh Duggar is found guilty for the crime in court, he will face up to twenty years of imprisonment along with fines of up to $250,000 on each & every count. Josh Duggar will be able to request to be released on bond on a court hearing in two weeks on May 5th. 

Judge Erin L. Wiedemann has said that a third party will need to show up alongside Josh Duggar at the future hearing, stating: “I will also advise you that any proposed third-party custodian, it would need to be in a residence, where there are no minors in the home”. However, should the star even be released on bond in the first place amidst these disturbing allegations? 

A father & husband

As if this story wasn’t horrible enough, Josh Duggar appears to be a family man as well, as he is currently the father of six, soon to be seven, children. The TLC star and the former political rightwing activist shares a family with his wife Anna Duggar, and shared the news in April 2021 that the two were expecting their seventh child into the family. The two had been married for almost thirteen years. 

Together, Josh & Anna Duggar are parents to eleven-year-old Mackynzie, nine-year-old Michael, seven-year-old Marcus, five-year-old Meridith, three-year-old Mason, and seventeen-month-old Maryella. In Touch has recently confirmed that Josh Duggar was being held at a detention center without bond. The star had been arrested by federal agents and taken into custody at the Washington County jail. 

Past incident of sexual abuse

Want to know what’s the most disturbing part of this all? Well, it turns out that prior to this latest incident, Josh Duggar had already been in a horrifying situation like this one. Duggar’s parents had stated in an interview with Megyn Kelly that when the TLC star was fourteen years old, he molested four of his sisters as well as a babysitter for the family. 

The former political activist and star later spoke out about the situation and said: “Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends. I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation.” 

“We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling. I understood that if I continued down this wrong road that I would end up ruining my life. I would do anything to go back to those teen years and take different actions.” 

Josh Duggar added: “I sought forgiveness from those I had wronged and asked Christ to forgive me and come into my life. In my life today, I am so very thankful for God’s grace, mercy and redemption.”