(Washington) Josh Duggar, the oldest in an American family of 19 who has championed conservative family values on television, was found guilty on Thursday of uploading and possessing child pornography in an Arkansas federal court .
For seven years, from 2008 to 2015, the Duggar family, with traditionalist Christian values, took to the stage on the reality TV channel TLC, before the accusations against Josh, the first of the Duggar children, precipitated the downfall of the program. .
In April, the 33-year-old was arrested after the discovery of child pornography images on his laptop, then sent to federal court in Arkansas, the central state of the United States where the family grew up. .
Jailed Thursday after the verdict, Josh Duggar will know his sentence in about four months. The man faces 20 years in prison and fines of up to $ 500,000.
According to the family story, a miscarriage of the mother, Michelle, decided the couple she forms with her husband Jim Bob to stop using contraception. “We read in the Bible that children are a blessing and a gift from God,” they say on their website.
The result was the hypermedia coverage of their lifestyle choices, with the show 19 kids and counting – 19 kids, and it’s not over yet – broadcast on TLC from 2008.
Close to the Republican Party, they were also on the front lines of many anti-gay and anti-abortion rallies.
In 2015, Josh had already embarrassed his family by admitting to sexual assaults, some of which against his own sisters, causing the shutdown of the reality show.
Josh Duggar’s lawyers have announced to the local press their intention to appeal the ruling.