Josh Duggar is due to be sentenced for the crimes of receiving and possessing child sex abuse materials (CSAM) later this month, but in a last-ditch effort to save him from the 20-year sentence his prosecutors have recommended, his wife Anna, mom Michelle and other acquaintances have written letters to the judge, begging him to have mercy on the disgraced 19 Kids & Counting star.
On Wednesday, Josh’s attorneys filed a memo asking the judge to give Josh the shortest sentence legally allowed: five years.
Josh’s legal team reportedly feels that five years is “sufficient, but not greater than necessary,” arguing that the former 19 Kids and Counting star has “lived an admirable life while navigating unique challenges associated with being in the public spotlight since childhood.”
In memo filed by the defense earlier this week, Josh is portrayed as a devoted family man who “commits selfless acts out of the spotlight that speak to his true character.” It goes on to claim that the “real” Josh is not who is portrayed in the media, but rather a “profoundly hardworking man committed with every grain in his body to his family, faith, and to helping those around him at any cost.”
No, really… it actually says that…
The filing claims that Josh’s life has been “shattered” by this case and not only his reputation has suffered as a result, but also his career and family.
“However, what speaks to Duggar’s true character is that his family remains firmly by his side and they yearn for the day when he can return home to them,” the defense states. “His seven children and loving wife are struggling to make do without him but eagerly await the day when he will return to care for them, to love them, and to provide for them.”
Josh’s team assures that after completing whatever sentence the court decides, the 34-year-old will go on to “lead a productive and lawful life.”
The defense memo goes on to state how Josh being behind bars has and will affect his wife and kids. They state that it will help the children if Josh is given a short sentence in a facility that is near the family’s home in Northwest Arkansas.
“While the reality that Duggar is going to be sentenced to federal prison is undoubtedly frightening for Duggar himself, it has paralyzed his family with fear… [Josh’s brother-in-law] David Waller notes that he heard Duggar’s children ‘cry themselves to sleep wanting their daddy to be home’ and respectfully asks this Court to ‘consider how much his wife and seven children need him in their lives; to be nearby for visits, accessible for communication, and brought back home to provide not just the financial, but spiritual guidance of his family.’
“Stated simply, any punishment imposed on Duggar is also a punishment imposed on his family.”
Michelle and Anna, as well as David Waller, and several others submitted letters to the judge, praising Josh and asking for a short sentence for him.
In her letter, Michelle states that Josh has many people who love him, and that he has a “tender heart and is compassionate toward others.” She points out that Josh and Anna have helped clean stuff for people, and that Josh has always been a “positive and upbeat person.”
Michelle claims that Josh has been great about coming up with “creative ways” to support his family, and even gave money to a widow for several years.
“Joshua is a loving and patient man, striving to be a blessing and provide for his family!” Michelle writes, going on to say that Josh builds forts with his kids, plays sports with them and takes them fishing.”
“We ask that he be reunited with his wife and family in a timely manner,” Michelle ends the note. (But not before she dots the “i” in her name with a heart….in a court document.)
Click here to see Michelle’s letter.
In her own letter to the judge, Anna talks about how Josh enjoyed “chatting with and listening to various homeless people who would pass by on the street.”
She goes on to say that Josh is an “engaged dad” to their seven children who even helps to sweep up crackers.
Anna goes on to write how much she and the kids rely on Josh “for financial, emotional and physical support” and that he always provides it– unless he’s helping people in the community, of course. She goes on to talk about some of the people Josh has helped— including a widow and a guy he employed to wash cars.
Anna ends her letter by begging the judge to give Josh a short sentence so they can be together again.
“I ask that you consider reuniting us as a family soon,” she writes. “I understand the seriousness of this matter; however I respectfully ask that you take this letter into consideration when determining a fair sentence.”
On January 19, Josh’s legal team filed a motion for a new trial, an acquittal of the guilty verdict or the dismissal of the possession of CSAM, arguing that there is no evidence that Josh personally viewed the illegal material. Prosecutors have argued otherwise, claiming the evidence of Josh’s guilty is “clear and overwhelming.”
The memo filed by the defense this week includes the detail that parties have agreed one count would be dismissed if Josh was found guilty, as well as reiterates the post-trial request for an acquittal or new trial.
Other details were also mentioned in the memo, including a discrepancy in the number of images downloaded by Josh– the defense claims the government’s forensic report only located 127 images, while the prosecution maintains more than 600 images were downloaded. The duration between the time the alleged downloads took place and the date the search warrant of Josh’s car lot was issued– nearly six months– were also included in the filing.
In the prosecution’s sentencing recommendations, it’s noted that Josh has refused to take responsibility for his actions, and has not sought any treatment for what they call a “deep-seated, pervasive, and violent sexual interest in children, and a willingness to act on that interest.” Because of this, the prosecutors say they’re very concerned that Josh will reoffend when he’s released from prison.
In the defense memo, though, Josh’s legal team states the opposite.
“Duggar is simply not a defendant who will commit any crime in the future,” they write. “Prior to being charged with this offense, Duggar was on the right track and, thankfully, that right track eagerly awaits him upon his release. The support of Duggar’s immediate family along with the support of his large extended family is as unique as it is powerful.
“Upon his release, Duggar will not be in a position to fail—he will land in a position to succeed and he will seize that opportunity and work tirelessly to ensure that his family never has to go another day without him by their side.”
The defense also states that despite how long Josh’s prison sentence ends up being, he “will have to suffer the consequences of his conviction for the rest of his life.”
Josh’s sentencing is set to take place May 25.
(Photos: Instagram; TLC)
43 Responses
There are a ton of people in prison that have children. In some cases, a parent going to prison has made children without a parent at all. Why should Josh get special treatment that other people, and their children, do not? These people are delusional and I hope the judge does not listen to any of their pleadings.
Guess this is the way the big guy upstairs is going to stop these total a-holes from having any more “blessings”. Hope he gets the max sentence.
His wife, who must be in dreamland or worried she will have to get a job as if he is out in five years he will abuse their children, he abused his sisters so why not his own children.
Can I get a list of this from the attorney outlining this admirable life? I just need to know what this entails.
Well they said: he’s nice to homeless people and he helped a widow. Oh, and no one proved he needed more than 127 CSAM files to get him through a six-month period.
What a model of Christian virtue.
Even if you ignore all that pesky rigamarole about downloading CSAM, actively seeking out other partners while his spouse believed she was in a strictly monogamous relationship (and would go to hell for even tempting other men with a glimpse of her calves and/or protecting herself from STIs from her husband), and the prolonged SA of multiple children who trusted him, they’re… really struggling to make him sound like even a vaguely decent person, much less one whose great faith leads him to be a supportive and helpful member of his community who would be better off returning to be a part of it.
He talks nicely to homeless people? That’s pretty…basic humanity, no?
I mean, I guess that’s nice that he has one group of people he doesn’t abuse, but are his family and alleged friends not embarrassed by how little positive contribution he actually makes to the world?
Shit, I’m disabled and spend much of my time bedbound, and I’ve felt a lot of guilt over how little I’m now able to do to help others. I guess I should feel good that I still can name more that I’ve actively done in the past month than he apparently ever has (actively, as in, more specific and intentional, and hopefully actually tangible, than “I’m not harming people from inside my apartment, plus I always thank the staff at Panera’s”). And I’m just a heathen atheist. I don’t even do it for the beanies from a skydaddy).
But, hey, they have that great argument that “you should give this convicted pedophile the minimum so he can return home to his still-minor children.” And they use the word “position” an uncomfortable number of times
Even if they don’t actually care about helping others (besides “a widow”: I guess avoiding the more clichéd “widows and orphans” was the one good call made in writing what sounds like the kind of letter of recommendation I’d give a below-average employee or student to avoid being sued (“Mr. Smith has never disrupted the group by shouting out his ideas”)), but don’t these fuckers try to help people because they think god will give them extra credit? They seriously can’t list pages of actually useful stuff he’s done for others in the name of Jesus or whatever, even though it’s utterly irrelevant?
The best he has is, “I’ve never held up a liquor store or internally smuggled drugs internationally”? Shit, the latter, done out of financial desperation, would probably get him more time.
I can’t even really be upset that he has “supporters” advocating for him, if this is the best they can argue, as these are so terrible that the prosecutors might as well submit them themselves as further reasoning that he needs to remain in prison for the max sentence.
Hope he gets at least 20 years.
Jim Bob, Michelle and Anna need to be investigated. Who in their right mind would support this sicko?
Perhaps JOSH should think about his kids crying themselves to sleep and how he needs to be a present dad to them when he’s about to do all of the disgusting and illegal things he does. It’s not other people’s responsibility to give him mercy due to the things he very clearly doesn’t care about. This family disgusts me.
You can love someone with all of your heart and not enable them. Enablement by his parents and wife allowed Josh the confidence to stack up victims over the years. Turning a blind eye, minimizing, and making excuses for his $exual perver$ion caused irreparable harm. Harm to every child he gawked at, every person he touched inappropriately or mole$ted.
Josh encouraged p 0 r n traffickers to remain in business by lining their pockets with cash. He encouraged every predator out there supplying this garbage to the traffickers, to keep hurting children in order to fulfill the demand he was helping to create.
Deserve a break? No. None of his supporters deserve anything good to befall them. They are just as guilty as Josh. Josh deserves to be cast into the general population within the toughest prison system there is.
This!!! This should accompany victim impact statements. This monster deserves no leniency at all. She doesn’t know it now but the best thing for her children is for him to be far FAR away from them. She is not in any position mentally or protect them from his harm.
I’m so disgusted by all of them. They should all be locked up with him, f*ckin enablers. Even his father in law wants him out? He’ll be home molesting your own grandkids, you stupid f*ck!! I’d investigate all of them, I’m starting to think all of them are ped0philes
7 small children..all the more reason to lock him behind bars for max they can..to protect his kids since his wife wont
Or really? He helps the homeless? I remember a screenshot from his Ashley Madison profile where his advice to homeless people was “get a job.” The Ashley, please find this screenshot…and then forward it to the prosecutors. Lies! Throw the book at him… Preferably ‘War and Peace’…in Russian.
Was he on the right track when he was touching his sisters? Was he on the right track when he was cheating on his wife? Spare me.
The rampant delusion displayed in the letters from his family are proof that he takes zero accountability, thinks he has committed no crimes, and absolutely will continue with his crimes. I hope and pray the judge sees that, especially when compared to the FACTS stated by the prosecution. Give him the max sentence!!!
Piece of shit wont even acknowledge what he’s done!
Wtf cares 600 images 100 – ONE is too many!!
We all saw the infamous episode where Josh had his very pregnant wife crawl under the table because he was too lazy to get himself a second helping if the dinner she made. I highly doubt that he is in any way an active father or a loving husband. I hope the judge sees right through all of this BS and gives Josh the maximum sentence. I also hope that CPS interviews those seven children to make sure that their father didn’t assault them.
The zero accountability here is absolutely astounding and disturbing. This is worse than enabling, his family is setting him up to re offend when he gets out by coddling his so hard. If he only gets 5 years I genuinely fear his children will be his next targets (or continue to be if they weren’t already) because it will be the easiest to get away with. It’s disgusting that they are all acting like it was just a small indiscretion. If him providing for his family is so important than HE should have thought about that before committing these crimes, the judge is not responsible for the consequences outside of his sentence. These “acts of kindness” and his “selflessness” also paint a picture of a narcissist feeding his ego. He shows no remorse and deserves at the very least every minute of a 20yr sentence.
And in all seriousness can anyone write letters to the judge? Like can we flood him with letters against Josh?
No. Its usually people connected to the crime that can speak up in court…family, friends, victims. Please, don’t “flood” the court with anything. Because of covid our courts are SERIOUSLY backlogged. I know your heart is in the right place, I’m in no way trying to be rude, but you would be doing more harm than good. Someone would have to go through all those letters and it would take time away from more important matters connected to this crime and others. Trust me, the judge already knows how vile Josh is. He unfortunately had to actually see the disgusting images and videos Josh had during the trial. I highly doubt that any (normal, non-demented) person would be able to forget that. I really, honestly think he’ll get the max or close to it. There would be an uproar from the public if he got off light and the judge knows that. Plus, judges don’t like it when convicts refuse to take responsibility for their actions and very often will give harsher sentences to people like Josh who deny, deny, deny.
Those are all very excellent points thank you! It would be great if one of his victims/sisters could speak up I understand that would be extremely difficult for anyone and especially them in this situation. It just blows my mind that he has people rallied in his corner like this. I really hope it puts things in prospective for them once he’s sentenced. It will probably take years but at some I would think that’ll start to feel some anger and resentment towards him for his actions.
I’m glad he can sweep crackers, he’ll be a great prison wife.
??
Michelle’s letter sounds a lot like the ones they release for one of their children’s birthdays.
“Josh and Anna have helped clean stuff for people”… “he even helped clean up crackers!” WOW, someone get this man a Nobel Peace Prize! He helped clean up after his own children once? A man like that shouldn’t be locked up! /sarcasm.
The bar is truly on the floor for these men.
Somehow, it is still stunning how absolutely dumb and damaged these women are.
Michelle wrote about the family being “Together!” as if that is the most important thing for Josh. It seems that Josh really enjoyed his apart time from his family and made as much of it as he could.
These people are only interested in 2 things: Having as many babies as possible and having a provider who incurs no debt. WTAF.
If I were the Judge, I’d use those letters to wipe my ass with. Why don’t you ask the actual victims how tender hearted this shithead is.
Who in their right mind would want a man who looks at CP and has touched children before- to stay with them and be around their 7 children??? Friggin crazy.
I don’t suppose that widow he’s supporting he’s also banging and possibly fathers one of her spawns. Maury get on this before you leave us!
I’m looking to focus on the least heaviness listed above, not to downplay any of it, but because I’m not in the best place mentally to go down that rabbit hole.
Or, even more terrifying a question…does this widow have young daughters?
Well it’s certainly a worry when Josh is the “spiritual guidance of his family”.
Ok….where to start
The acts that he is doing outside of the spotlight are exactly the reason he is here. He and Anna are struggling? Perhaps Josh should have considered thaf before he broke the law in a profoundly disgusting way. Im curious if they are as upset for the children being abused in videos, as they are that Josh is ” struggling”
Lastly, that manipulative little gash Anna is seriously saying any punishment given to Josh is also a punishment for his Family. Right! And Josh is the one that did this to your family, no one else. He is a gross little pig that will absolutely offend again, its the cover ups that perpetuate his behavior, not the consequences after he has been caught.
There is a special place in hell waiting for Michelle and Jim Boob. They have used and betrayed all of their children, and they enabled Josh’s evil behavior throughout his entire life. Anna is horrifically brainwashed and believes she will go to hell if she does not obey Josh in every way. At least if Josh is in prison for 20 years he will not be able to assault his own children. I cannot even imagine what else is going on in this cult. So awful.
He was not on the right track before. He was just not caught. He must be in prison until his kids are grown. I hope to God he has not touched them.
Also… I just have a feeling….did Josh..um….learn this from…someone. An older Duggar has always given me the same vibes….
Unfortunately his parents and wife are extremely guilty of letting Josh get away with this disgusting behavior. He can be the “greatest man” as they’re claiming he is, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that behind closed doors, when he’s alone, he’s acting on his inner demons.I truly see him as the biggest manipulator and the all fall for his act. The REAL victims are the children in those videos he obtained. I hope he gets the harshest sentence he can get for what he did
I’m sorry but his parents, wife and anyone else that defends his abuse are just as guilty, they constantly defend that piece of ? and don’t give one second of thought to these poor babies that suffered so badly at the hands of these monsters, they want leniency for their poor little boy well STFU he deserves none and if his parents had done something about him in the beginning and not sweep it under the carpet maybe he wouldn’t of been where he is now, I’m a victim myself of SA all through my childhood and seeing them beg for mercy for him makes me so mad for the lack of sympathy for these children, Michelle Digger your a failure as a mam, Jim Bob your a failure as a dad and Anna your the biggest failure for standing by this monster and not protecting your children by him staying in as long as possible and I’ll tell you something else I hope his children have been checked over because if he could do that to his sister’s then he could do it to his children my sperm donor r***d myself my sister and three brothers so he’s most likely messed around with his own children and Anna wanting him around them sickens me to the core.
He needs to be in prison for as long as possible. He is a straight up pervert and doesn’t need to be let out into society.
I really wish chemical castration was still a punishment.
The maximum is what he deserves, and what he and his family don’t realize is the bars between them will be the best thing to happen to his kids and his wife.
And in 20 years, all his kids will be adults and will never have the chance to be victimized by him.
He will be 54 years old by then (if he makes it out of prison; just heard ped0s don’t do well in prison). Hopefully, all Josh’s hold on Anna will be gone. She will have to raise seven children on her own and moved on with her life.
Why do I feel like this scumbag is going to get away with it? Just like every other sex predator out there. Let me guess.. 10 years probation and registration as a sex offender for life..
It’s crazy to me how they are all acting like Josh is a victim of the system and the state is just being mean to him with the conviction… WTF?!? The Duggars are trash people through and through.
This just shows that they are not really Christians but cult members. They allowed their pedo phile son to live on their property with their gaggle of young daughters but don’t allow Jill to come over… Apparently wearing jeans and using birth control is way worse than child s e x crimes.
“Profoundly hardworking man”? FFS, weren’t the computers with all the child porn on them at his job?!?
Oh so “the case” & the media has ruined his reputation and put him through this struggle, I see. Riiiiight. It’s definitely not the fact that he had possession of a bunch of sick child porn, molested 5 little girls including his own sisters, possessed horrific child abuse/torture videos, cheated multiple times on his wife, was addicted to extreme porn, and was the face of the Family Research Council, denouncing families that didn’t match his “values”, while simultaneously being the absolute worst husband/dad/person anyone could imagine.
And he lived an “ADMIRABLE” life before *gasp* being in a public family gave him “unique challenges”?? Ummmmm, Josh molested his 4 sisters and the other young girl BEFORE his family got the TV show. So no, let’s not blame the show either.
“Devoted” family man? “Committed with every grain in his body”? He regularly cheated on Anna while she was home with a slew of babies, and watched porn daily, even while freaking driving!
I literally cannot handle those statements! Awww David Waller, his kids miss him?! Well maybe he should have thought about them for half a second before screwing them all over to enjoy his child rape and torture porn.
I can’t believe they are still trying to protect this guy. He molested a 5 year old when he was 15. He had multiple affairs on his wife on Ashley Madison and then named his kid Madison. Then all of this disgusting stuff. He has never changed, never been an upstanding citizen. He gross and needs to be locked up. They keep enabling him and I don’t get why? He’s gross!!!
“Duggar is simply not a defendant who will commit any crime in the future,” they write. “Prior to being charged with this offense, Duggar was on the right track.
So the “right track” is downloading kiddie porn? He is a pedophile and a repeat offender that should never see the light of day!
Michelle & Anna both disgust me. This may be what saves Josh’s own children from being molested by their father. (If that hasn’t happened already) God knows that Anna wouldn’t protect her children.