By Stephen M. Lepore For Dailymail.Com
15:47 17 Mar 2023, updated 16:39 17 Mar 2023
- Duggar was originally set to be released on August 12, 2032
- His sentence was extended twice this week until October 2, 2032
- He is currently languishing in solitary confinement for having an illegal cell phone
Former reality TV star Josh Duggar has had his prison sentence of 12.5 years extended by almost two months as he is in solitary confinement for having an illegal cell phone.
Duggar, 34, was arrested in April 2021 after a Little Rock Police Department detective found child abuse images shared by a computer that had been traced to the “19 Kids and Counting” personality.
Investigators allege the images were downloaded to a computer at a car dealership owned by Duggar in 2019, prompting federal agents to search Wholesale Motorcars in November 2019.
Duggar pleaded not guilty to one count of receiving and one count of possession of child pornography, and a jury found Duggar guilty of the charges at trial in December 2021. He was initially set to be released on August 12, 2032.
However, in the past week, that sentence has been extended twice, first by 10 days until Aug. 22, 2032, and then by another six weeks until Oct. 2, 2023, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
In February, it was reported that he was languishing in solitary confinement at FCI Seagoville near Dallas after he was found to have smuggled a cell phone into the prison.
It is unclear whether the mobile phone led to an extension of his sentence. DailyMail.com has contacted FCI Seagoville for comment.
Duggar’s lawyers have maintained they would fight the charges since he was arrested in 2021.
Nevertheless, they could not get the case dismissed in October 2021.
Attempts to suppress video evidence against him were also denied by a judge.
Duggar’s attorneys said the prosecution’s attempt to bring forward charges of sexual assault when he was a teenager could prejudice a jury, but witnesses were allowed to testify.
TLC had previously canceled “19 Kids and Counting” in 2015 following allegations that Duggar molested four of his sisters and an underage babysitter between 2002 and 2003, when he was 14 and 15 years old.
Authorities began investigating the abuse in 2006 after a tip from a family friend, but concluded that the statute of limitations on any charges had expired.
Duggar’s parents said after the allegations resurfaced in 2015 that he had confessed to the caress and apologized privately.
Duggar subsequently publicly apologized for unspecified behavior and resigned as a lobbyist for the Family Research Council, an evangelical lobby group that promotes “family values” and, among other things, opposed access to pornography.
Months later, he also publicly apologized for cheating on his wife and an addiction to pornography, for which he subsequently sought treatment.
The family has been criticized for their views on modesty and purity amid the scandals, including their opposition to contraceptive use.
Duggar’s wife and family regularly visit him while he serves his sentence, sources say.
Despite his vile crime, sources told the US that Sun Duggar’s wife Anna and their seven children visit FCI Seagoville in Dallas, Texas, where he is incarcerated “quite regularly.” The prison is said to be ‘dangerous’ and poorly managed.
The relative of another inmate at FCI Seagoville said she has seen the Duggars in prison on numerous occasions.
‘We have seen Anna visiting quite regularly. I’ve spoken to Anna a few times. Usually all I’ve seen is Anna and then their children,’ they said. “I don’t really know anyone else.”
The source said the prison provided “board games and blocks” in the visitors’ area to keep children entertained, but it could be very difficult for families to visit otherwise.
She said the prison does not allow visitors to wear clothes that could be considered provocative, and their rules sometimes change from visit to visit.
“It’s kind of a nonsense about everything they’re going to say today that’s outside of policy. I’ve had a security guard tell me I had too many bobby pins in my hair to go in or my mask was the wrong color,” the source said.
“They tried to send me away because I was wearing a dress. I had worn the same dress the week before and they said it was fine, but this time they said it was too sexually provocative.’
The source added that visitors often have to “wait for hours.”
“There’s always a delay. A few weeks ago they said the electricity went out. It goes in and out all the time so they use it as an excuse to make us wait a few hours before we could enter.
The source said it can be difficult to just get in, and visitors are admitted on a first come, first served basis.
“The visit should start at 8:15 am and last until 3:30 pm. I’ll be there around 7 a.m. to get in line early,” the source said. “And they start processing us anytime between 8:15 and 9:30. Just when they feel like it.’
The source added that visits usually end an hour earlier than intended, as they sit on “plastic chairs” in a “very cold” room while talking to their captive loved ones.
“Sometimes there is food in the vending machines, but often it goes empty for weeks without anything. It’s very uncomfortable.’
“Partners are allowed to have a kiss and a hug at the beginning and at the end of the visit. Until a few weeks ago, detainees and visitors were allowed to hold hands. It was really delicious.’
“But they sent another guard to the squad and now they don’t allow that anymore.”
Sources close to the prison have previously claimed that FCI Seagoville often serves inmates food with very long expiration dates, goes weeks without heating or hot water, even in the dead of winter, and has a faulty power system that reverts to equally unreliable generators.
A source also told the US Sun “there isn’t really much security because they are dramatically understaffed.”
“The prison has some pretty tough politics, which means it has gangs in it. Fortunately, it’s not nearly as violent as a medium-weight facility. It’s not actually a very violent facility.”
“But it’s just a dangerous situation given the level of neglect and that’s why I know my relative has been worried about his. I guess I’d say he’s always concerned about his well-being, even though he feels physically safe.’
Duggar made headlines in 2015 when police reports became public stating that he molested four of his young sisters when he was 12. His parents said he confessed to the stroking and apologized.
During his child pornography trial, Duggar learned to scour the dark web for sick videos of little girls being tortured, humiliated and abused.
Graphic titles like ‘pedo mom’, ‘play tot sweetie’, ‘Daisy’s destroy’ and ‘ultra hard pedo pedofilia’ left little to the imagination. One video ended with a girl locked in a dog kennel. Another set of images showed a minor being raped by a male adult.
The videos were downloaded between May 14 and May 16, 2019.
The warped cache was so disturbing that a seasoned FBI child exploitation investigator said it was “in the top five of the worst of the worst I’ve ever had to investigate.”
At the time of the trial, defense attorneys argued that a former employee or hacker could have exploited Duggar’s lax internet security to hijack his computer and download the material remotely without anyone knowing.