The Supreme Court rejected Josh Duggar‘s appeal relating to his conviction on child pornography charges as he continues to serve his prison sentence.
The court made the decision on Monday, June 24, and did not elaborate on the denial, according to the Associated Press. The update comes after the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit voted to uphold Duggar’s conviction in October 2023.
Duggar, 36, who is serving out his child pornography sentence at FCI Seagoville in Texas, will be released in 2032. He was originally arrested on charges of receipt and possession of child pornography in 2021. He pleaded not guilty and was later sentenced to 151 months in prison.
The reality star previously entered the spotlight because of his family’s TLC reality series 19 Kids and Counting. Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar‘s large family and religious lifestyle fascinated viewers as soon as the show debuted in 2008. Josh, for his part, married Anna Duggar (née Keller) that same year.
In 2015, Josh came under fire after a police report revealed he molested five girls, four of which were his sisters, when he was a teenager. His name was also mentioned in the infamous Ashley Madison leak, which included information tying Josh to the website created to help people have affairs.
“I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife,” Josh wrote via his family’s official website in 2015. “I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family, and most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him.”
Josh and Anna remained married and expanded their family with seven kids. Anna also continued to show her support for her husband during his trial and appeared at the courthouse for his sentencing.
After his sentencing, Josh spent two months in the Washington County Jail in his home state of Arkansas before he was transferred to FCI Seagoville, where he is subject to strict rules that include no unsupervised visits with his seven children.
“The Defendant shall have no unsupervised contact with minors,” court documents obtained by Us Weekly in June 2022 stated. “If there is a concern about the potential for inadvertent contact with a minor at a particular place, function, or event, then the Defendant shall get approval from the U.S. Probation Office before attending any such place, function or event.”
During his time at FCI Seagoville, Josh is allowed four hours of visits per month. He can only exchange “handshakes, hugs, and kisses (in good taste)” with Anna at the start and end of any visits.
The legal paperwork noted that once Josh is released, he cannot “possess, use, or have access to a computer or any other electronic device that has Internet or photograph storage capabilities without prior advance notice and approval of the U.S. Probation Office.”
Duggar’s attorneys filed an appeal in October 2022 with a request for a new trial. During a February 2023 hearing, attorney Justin Gelfand alleged Duggar’s phone was seized while he was attempting to contact his legal representation when federal agents raided his place of business ahead of his April 2021 arrest. The United States Court of Appeals responded that Duggar “voluntarily acquiesced” to questioning.
In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Duggar specifically addressed the charge that police in Arkansas found child sexual abuse material was being shared by a computer traced to him.
Duggar’s argument was that his attorneys should have been able to ask about the prior sex-offense conviction of a former employee of the dealership who had used the same computer. His legal team did not ask the former employee to testify after the judge ruled they could not mention the prior conviction.
