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Recent Josh Duggar news notes the Duggar family member finally moved into federal prison. Duggar has to spend over 12 years in prison after he was found guilty of downloading child sexual abuse material on a computer at his workplace. Even more recently, a legal expert weighed in on whether Duggar can make a successful appeal. Here’s what they said.

What are Josh Duggar’s crimes? He’s sentenced to over 12 years in federal prison

A close-up of Duggar family member Josh Duggar's face speaking at a conference
Josh Duggar | Kris Connor/Getty Images

The latest Josh Duggar news regarding his move to federal prison has Duggar family followers wondering about his crimes. So, what exactly was he charged with?

According to The New York Times, a police detective from Little Rock, Arkansas, found an IP address attached to a computer located at Duggar’s workplace. The IP address was sharing files of child sexual abuse images. After days of jury deliberations, the judge announced Duggar’s guilt. They included one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. The crimes carried a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and up to $250,000 in fines.

Josh received a sentence of 151 months in prison, and the judge dismissed the charge of child pornography possession. Duggar’s lawyer, Justin K. Gelfand, felt grateful for the judge’s dismissal, but they noted they still planned to appeal.

The latest Josh Duggar news surrounds his appeal. “We look forward to continuing the fight on appeal,” Duggar’s lawyer Justin K. Gelfand said in a statement. But legal expert Neama Rahmani, former Federal Prosecutor and President of West Coast Trial Lawyers, spoke to Us Weekly about the situation. Rahmani doesn’t think Duggar has any good legal standing to appeal.

He continued by stating Duggar “doesn’t really have a good defense” for the appeal due to the amount of evidence stacked against him. “I mean, these images were on his HP laptop computer, there’s a digital paper trail that shows that he’s on the internet downloading these images,” he added.

“I don’t think he has a very good argument on appeal,” Rahmani continued. “These possession cases are tough. When they’re on your computer and there is that digital footprint, both in terms of the actual guilt and in terms of the sentence, he’s very likely gonna lose.”

The Duggar family member has conditions he must follow upon his prison release

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Duggar family followers don’t know what will happen with Josh Duggar’s appeal just yet. If Duggar has to continue his stint in jail, he has several “special conditions” he has to follow even when released.

KNWA Fox24 reports Duggar can have “no unsupervised contact with minors” during his 20 years of supervised release after prison. He also cannot gain access to a computer or electronic device with internet or photo storage capabilities without “approval of the U.S. Probation Office.” Additionally, he has to have internet-monitoring software installed. Duggar must also attend a sex offense-specific treatment program.

If there’s any suspicion that Duggar violated any of his conditions, he must “submit his person, residence, place of employment, vehicles, papers, computers and any other electronic devices or storage media for search.”

How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.

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