Joshua James Duggar (born March 3, 1988)[1] is an American convicted sex offender and former reality television personality.

[4][5][6] The consequent fallout was named one of the "10 Big Scandals of 2015" by USA Today, and The Washington Post listed Duggar as one of the fifteen most hated people on the Internet for that year.

[13] Starting in 2005, Duggar appeared on a number of reality television shows about his family, beginning with a program on Discovery Health when he was aged 17.

Duggar's wedding was featured in an episode broadcast on January 25, 2009, which included the planning, preparation, rehearsal, ceremony and reception.

[3][18][19][21] When describing his position with the organization, he stated that he would be focused on "engaging the grassroots and taking the message of faith, family and freedom all across America".

[22] FRC president Tony Perkins said that by hiring Duggar they hoped to appeal to more young people by tapping into the popularity of 19 Kids and Counting.

Jim Bob told police that during this time Josh stayed at the Veterans' affairs Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas, allegedly attending a counseling program run by a Christian ministry that involved physical labor.

However, Michelle Duggar would later tell police that Josh was not involved in counseling, instead working under a family friend to help remodel the building.

[32][36] In Jill Duggar's memoir Counting the Cost, she says her parents told her that Josh had a temporary construction job with family friends.

[35] In July 2003, after Josh returned home—and 16 months after his initial confession to his parents[37]—Jim Bob took him to meet Joseph Truman Hutchens, an Arkansas State Trooper and family acquaintance.

[31][29] Speaking via a lawyer, Hutchens disputed part of the account, saying he was only told of a single act of incestuous molestation and that he would have responded differently if he had known of additional instances and victims.

[35][34] In December 2006, Kaeleigh's friend, having discovered the evidence against Josh (who was then 18), called the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline to reveal his past sexual misconduct toward minors.

On May 21, 2015, to protect the victim's privacy, state judge Stacey Zimmerman granted their request[49][50] and ordered all copies of the report destroyed.

[51][52][53][54][55][56] On May 23, Arkansas State Senator Bart Hester called for Springdale Police Chief Kathy O'Kelley to be fired, saying that she had re-victimized Duggar's victims by releasing his records.

[37] On June 4, Springdale city attorney Ernest Cate defended the release of the records, pointing out the redaction of the names and genders of those who were still minors when the police report was filed.

[55][56][58] On June 5, 2015, Duggar's sisters Jessa and Jill gave an interview to Megyn Kelly on Fox News, discussing the abuse and the reports' release.

She further stated that "the system was set up to protect kids ... it's greatly failed", and that the week preceding the interview had been "a thousand times worse for us" than the sexual abuse.

[34] On August 20, 2015, following the online posting of information from the Ashley Madison data breach, which included records of credit card transactions under his name, Duggar and his parents released a statement on the family website in which he admitted to watching pornography on the Internet and being unfaithful to his wife.

[63] According to the material obtained in the data breach, Duggar's credit card was used to pay $986.76 for two Ashley Madison subscriptions starting in February 2013, which were cancelled in May 2015 shortly after the molestation allegations surfaced.

[67][68][69] The facility was later confirmed in media reports as Reformers Unanimous, which describes itself as "a learning atmosphere where the addicted can be discipled in an environment that is much like a greenhouse".

[70][71] In November 2015, pornographic actress Danica Dillon filed suit against Duggar, claiming he had "assaulted her to the point of causing her physical and emotional injuries" during a sexual interaction at a Philadelphia strip club earlier in the year.

Marshals arrested Duggar on federal charges of receiving and possessing CSAM (child sexual abuse material).

[81] The federal grand jury's indictment accused Duggar of "knowingly" receiving pornographic images of children who were under 12 years old.

[86][87] Duggar was granted conditional bail at a bond hearing on May 5, and he was released from jail and transferred into the custody of a third-party custodian.

[97][98] The prosecution wanted to bring up sexual assault accusations made against Duggar when he was a young teenager; the defense alleged these charges were irrelevant and could prejudice a jury.

The jury was selected,[103][104][101] and Duggar's lawyer motioned for trial judge Timothy L. Brooks to dismiss "any further testimony" from Holt.

[103] The next day, the judge denied Duggar lawyer's request to dismiss past abuse allegations from evidence; opening statements were heard;[105] and the first witness, Detective Amber Kalmer of the Little Rock Police Department, testified.

[117] On December 14, 2021, five days after Josh's conviction, Jim Bob Duggar finished third in the Republican primary in his bid to represent District 7 of the Arkansas State Senate.

[118][119] On January 20, 2022, Josh Duggar's legal team filed for acquittal, arguing that the evidence presented at trial did not support conviction.

[126] On September 26, 2008, Duggar and Anna Renée Keller, both aged 20, were married at the Buford Grove Baptist Church in Hilliard, Florida.