Josh Duggar’s appeal in his child pornography case has been thrown out by the court, according to The Sun. The former 19 Kids and Counting star, 35, received an official order from the court terminating the appeal on Thursday, October 5. The appellate court had notified the lower court of the final decision in the case.
The Court of Appeals issued a mandate terminating Josh’s case, as his lawyers had tried to request a new trial. “Upon issuance of the mandate, the jurisdiction of the court of appeals over the case terminates, and the district court acquires jurisdiction to implement the mandate,” the appellate court states.
The decision comes as Josh is in the middle of serving 12 and a half years in prison, after being convicted on two counts of receiving and possessing child pornography. He was given the sentence in May 2022, after he was found guilty the prior December. Josh’s release date from prison is currently set for October 2, 2032, meaning he still has about nine years left on his sentence. After he’s released, he’ll have 20 years of supervised release, and as one of the conditions, he will not be allowed to have unsupervised contact with minors, including his own children, whose ages currently range from 2 to 13.
Josh had originally pleaded “not guilty” in the trial, and since the trial, his legal team has had different attempts to appeal the case. Their most recent filing came as they claimed that federal agents seized his phone when he tried to contact his attorney as they raided his car lot, per In Touch Weekly. Josh is currently serving his sentence at Texas’ Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) Seagoville.
Since his arrest and conviction, some of Josh’s siblings have spoken out against him, including his sister Jill, who detailed her feelings about her brother’s crimes in her memoir Counting the Cost. “I had thought about what Josh had done and reached a clear conclusion,” she wrote. “I wanted to know the truth. I wanted the evidence to come out. And I wanted Josh to be put away for a very long time.”
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.