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'Worst of the worst': Prosecutors ask court to throw the book at Josh Duggar
May 12, 2022 12:03PM ET
Josh Duggar (Mugshot)
Federal prosecutors are asking courts to give Josh Duggar the maximum sentence in his case. Duggar was found guilty of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography in December 2021. Two of the charges were dismissed, so Duggar can only get 20 years as a maximum.
Nonetheless, this is what prosecutors are asking for and they claim that he's the "worst of the worst" when it comes to sex offenders.
Some of the images in Duggar's possession depicted abuse of children as young as toddlers. The prosecutors also asked for sentencing enhancement for violence and for this being a pattern of behavior, citing allegations from his sisters.
A 32-page court document cited by local Arkansas Fox16 says, “the conduct established at trial supports the application of all contested enhancements and establishes that the offense involved 600 or more images, warranting the application of a five-level enhancement.”
The documents go on to describe photos and videos that the investigators called among the five worst images they've ever had to investigate in their career, Law and Crime reported.
“As an initial matter, Duggar used multiple means—uTorrent and Tor—to search for and download CSAM of a sadistic nature, including CSAM depicting prepubescent minors being subjected to violent abuse,” the memo says. “Moreover, he went to great lengths to conceal his conduct from others, presumably so he could engage in it undetected and undeterred.”
Further documents released in a section titled “Duggar’s History and Characteristics" show the previously concealed allegations from the Duggar sisters, all of whom went on to star in the TLC series "19 Kids and Counting."
The show focused on their Christianity and morality, which prompted outrage after it was revealed that the family concealed the abusive behavior while purporting to be paragons of virtue. Mr. Duggar was accused of beginning the abuse as early as 12, when his sisters were at least three years younger.
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“Although it has been widely reported and acknowledged by Duggar and his family in the public sphere, and yet still particularly contested throughout this prosecution, Duggar sexually abused multiple children when he was a juvenile,” the memo says. “His victims, four in total, were all prepubescent females, including several who were significantly younger than Duggar. And now, similarly, the victims depicted in the CSAM that Duggar has been convicted of downloading and possessing were all girls, all of similar age, and all being sexually exploited. This is not coincidental."
“The referenced ‘pattern’ that Duggar has followed, and which is now before this Court, involves his hands-on abuse of minor females followed up by his acts to obtain imagery reflecting the hands-on abuse of minor females,” the memo continues. “At base, this pattern reflects a clear and long-standing sexual interest in prepubescent females. And troublingly, this sexual interest in children has gone and will likely continue to go—based on Duggar’s conduct throughout this case—unacknowledged and thus untreated.”
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