ANNA Duggar was seen looking emotional as she stormed out of court in the moments after her husband Josh’s sentencing.
The Counting On alum will serve 12 years in prison on child pornography charges.
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The Sun exclusively obtained photos and video of Anna wearing a black mask and blue dress as she fled the courtroom.
She had a sullen look on her face following news that the father of her seven children would be behind bars for more than a decade.
Josh’s sentencing hearing came several months after he was found guilty on charges.
Many members of his famous family attended the trial and the subsequent hearing.
In court, Josh sought leniency from the judge as he begged for a 60-month sentence.
Instead, he was hit with a 151-month – or 12-year – sentence.
The reality star was also ordered to pay $50,000 in fines.
While he read his decision, the judge called Josh’s crimes “the sickest of the sick.”
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CALLING HIM OUT
He then said: “You have done some very bad things. But in your life as a whole, you’ve done good things…The true test of a man’s character is what a man does when no one is watching.”
Referring to Josh’s insistence that he’s innocent, the judge went on: “I find it aggravating about the lack of responsibility.”
Josh’s wife Anna, sister Joy-Anna, dad Jim Bob and brothers Jason and James watched him receive his grueling sentence in court on Wednesday, The Sun’s reporter claimed.
Joy-Anna and Jason appeared saddened by the judge’s decision, while Anna and Jim Bob remained emotionless.
Josh’s mother Michelle and other siblings were not in attendance.
CRIME & PUNISHMENT
After Josh completes his prison stay, he will serve 20 more years of probation and will be forbidden from unsupervised visits with children.
He will not be allowed to have a computer, or view pornography of any kind.
Josh was previously found guilty of possessing and receiving child pornography on December 9 after a nearly two-week trial.
He has been locked up in Washington County Jail since the verdict, and will soon be transferred to federal prison, where he is expected to undergo a sex offender treatment program.
Prosecutors demanded the disgraced star receive the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while Josh’s legal team begged for just five years behind bars ahead of the court hearing.
The government argued in the Sentencing Memorium previously reported by The Sun: “In consideration of the extraordinary efforts Duggar took to obtain and view child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the nature of the CSAM he obtained and viewed, his efforts to conceal his criminal conduct, and his refusal to take accountability for or acknowledge any of his criminal conduct, the Government recommends the Court impose a guideline term of imprisonment of 240 months.”
FROM THE VICTIMS
Prosecutors say they believed it was “important” for them to “highlight the pain his predation caused in the words of his victims.”
The court papers read: “As the parent of one of the victims depicted in the CSAM the defendant downloaded explained, her daughter became an ‘anxious and fretful shadow of her former self’ after being sexually abused.
“And when addressing the harm caused by offenders like Duggar, who traffic in images depicting the worst moments of her daughter’s life, she wrote: ‘I can find no words to express the fury I feel at those who participate in this evil, or my scorn for any attempt to minimize the responsibility by feeble claims that the crime was ‘victimless.’
“‘My daughter is a real person. She was horribly victimized to provide this source of ‘entertainment.’ She is exploited anew each and every time an image of her suffering is copied, traded or sold. While the crime is clearly conscienceless, it is hardly ‘victim-less.’
The mother asked her daughter what she wanted most from the judge.
Her request was, according to the court papers: “‘Please, don’t let them pretend no-one’s getting hurt!’”
The victim said of Josh: “‘Don’t you know no one should do that to a little girl! Don’t you know it hurts!’”
The court documents continued: “As the mother of a child victimized by this crime, I would ask that the court take into consideration the damage done by this heartless crime to my daughter and others like her (including those children who still wait for someone to rescue them from their exploitation, and have no-one here today to speak for them) and impose a sentence that takes into account the full impact of the crime on the victims.”
The prosecution continued in their argument: “Those are the words of just one parent of just one victim. There are many more victims of Duggar’s crimes, all of whom were subjected to extreme and unimaginable instances of sexual abuse and violence.
“Some of the victims depicted in the CSAM he downloaded and possessed, like the victim described above, have been identified and rescued. Others have not, and the pain and trauma they have experienced as a result of Duggar’s conduct will go unvoiced at the sentencing hearing.”
JOSH’S DARK PAST
The government also brought up when Josh molested minor females in the family home when he was a teenager.
The court papers claimed: “This Court is now presented with an offender who has a history of sexually abusing minors, who has not received any treatment or therapy for this conduct to speak of, who appears unlikely to ever seek out or meaningfully participate in treatment or therapy to address this conduct, and who continues to deny any responsibility for his past or present crimes.
“There is simply no indication that Duggar will ever take the steps necessary to change this pattern of behavior and address his predilection for minor females.
“Given these circumstances, this Court should be particularly mindful in crafting its sentence of the likelihood that Duggar reoffends upon his release from incarceration and what his reoffending conduct will entail.”
