Former “19 Kids and Counting” star Josh Duggar‘s family opened up about his arrest after he pleaded not guilty to child p0rn0graphy charges on Friday, April 30.
From the family, his parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, and his sisters Jill Dillard and Jinger Vuolo gave a statement on their official family website.
“We appreciate your continued prayers for our family at this time. The accusations brought against Joshua today are very serious,” they wrote. “It is our prayer that the truth, no matter what it is, will come to light, and that this will all be resolved in a timely manner. We love Josh and Anna and continue to pray for their family.”
According to a United States Attorney’s Office press release, the reality star “allegedly used the internet to download child sexual abuse material. Duggar allegedly possessed this material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, in May 2019.”
He now faces “up to 20 years of imprisonment and fines up to $250,000.00 on each count.” Josh is currently being held without bond, but he will have the opportunity to request to be released on bond at a hearing on May 5. In order to be released, he will require a “third-party custodian” who he will reside with that would “ensure compliance with conditions of release and can ensure to the court that there are no minors in the home, or that would be visiting unsupervised.”
“TLC is saddened to learn about the continued troubles involving Josh Duggar,” the network said in a statement to PEOPLE on Friday. “19 Kids and Counting has not aired since 2015. TLC cancelled the show on the heels of prior allegations against Josh Duggar and he has not appeared on-air since then.”
For more updates, keep watching this space.
