Josh Duggar, 3rd from left, made his first court appearance on Friday morning following his arrest by federal agents in Arkansas on Thursday.
Duggar, 33, appeared before the judge at the Western District of Arkansas Federal Court from jail via Zoom on Friday, where he entered a plea of not guilty on all counts.
The father-of-7 declined to have his charges read in open court.
However, TMZ reports he was hit with charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, including images of minors below the age of 12.
According to the legal documents, the “19 Kids and Counting” star knowingly received child p0rn in mid-May 2019. The charges follow a federal raid by Homeland Security agents on his now-shuttered car dealership in 2019.
His next court hearing is set for next week to determine if Duggar will be granted bond. He will remain in custody until then.
If bond is granted, Duggar will be required to stay with a third-party custodian, and that person can’t have unsupervised minors in the home.
If convicted, Duggar faces up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.00 on each count.
This isn’t Duggar’s first brush with the law. Duggar’s father, Jim Bob Duggar (pictured far right), reported then-14-year-old Josh to police after he allegedly molested 5 minors. It isn’t clear if the victims included some of his 18 siblings.
His trial is scheduled for July.
