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Minutes after he was convicted of possessing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM), Josh Duggar was cuffed hauled off to jail in front of his horrified family.
Whie he’ll eventually be relocated to a federal prison, Josh has spent the past several weeks in solitary confnement in a county facility near Fayetteville, Arkansas.
On Tuesday, Josh’s sentencing hearing was scheduled for April 5.
Needless to say, these are tense times for the 33-year-old and the family members who continue to support.
Based on federal sentencing gudelines, Josh is facing 20 years behind bars.
But despite his numerous past sex scandals, Josh is technically a first offender, so it seems unlikely that Judge Timothy L. Brooks will throw the book at him.
Fortunately, if the court takes mercy on Josh, ge can’t serve less than five years in prison.
There are several factors that will be considered. by the judge, most of which having tp do with the severtiy and nature of Josh’s crimes, which were already determined during his trial.
But at the sentencing hearing, Judge Brooks might hear statements from Josh’s victims, as well as Josh himself.
And as legal analyst and attorney Emily D. Baker explains to The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, these statements can come from anyone who was victimized by Josh, not just those who were affected by his most recent crimes.
“The Victim Impact Statement would be a victim and can be related to his previous acts, since it is very unlikely it would be from someone depicted in [the CSAM] he possessed,” Baker told The Ashley’s Reality Roundup.
“Since his past acts came up at trial that would be my best guess at what type of victim impact statement is included.”
Josh molested four of his sisters while he was still in his teens, and while it seems unlikely that any of them will take the stand against him, it’s not impossible.
After all, Jill Duggar cut ties with her parents years ago and has made it clear that she believes Josh is guilty of the crimes was convicted of.
But would she pubicly burn that bridge by delivering a Victim Impact Statement?
We wouldn’t bet on it.
Baker adds that Josh cannot be sentenced on both of the chatges for which he was convicted, possessing and receiving CSAM.
And so, he’ll be sentenced for receiving, which guarantees a minimum of five years behind bars.
“The receiving charges carries a five-year minimum mandatory sentence,” she said.
“Possessing [CSAM] does not have a mandatory minimum and is a lesser crime,” Baker continued.
“But because he was convicted of the possessing charge, there’s that five-year minimum, so he has to go to prison for at least five years and up to 20.”
So yeah, the rumors that Josh might wind up serving 40 years behind bars were always inaccurate.
But at least there’s a mandatory minimum in this case.
“He was never eligible to be sentenced on both [charges],” Baker stated.
“It was always 20 years max, depending on which [charge] he was convicted of. They could not be added together [so that it’s 20 years per charge],” she continued.
“The top max sentence always has to be 20 years. If he had been convicted of possessing [CSAM] only, there’s no mandatory minimum sentence, so legally, a judge could have sentenced him to no prison time and only probation/parole,” Baker explained.
“But because he was convicted of the possessing charge, there’s that five-year minimum, so he has to go to prison for at least five years and up to 20.”
Obviously, the idea of Josh getting sentenced to a mere five years is nauseating.
But as Baker points out, the fact that he’s being sentenced in federal court meanhe he will likely keep him behind bars for longer.
“In the federal system, you do not get as much credit for time that you serve so you serve more of your sentence,” Emily told The Ashley.
“Instead of serving, say, 50 percent [of the sentence like with state sentences] you serve 80 percent,’ she explained.
“So the sentences tend to look lower in federal court, but you’re actually serving more time.”
So the good news is, Josh could wind up being sentenced to 20 years in prison, and he would actually have to serve the majority of that time.
The bad news is, there’s a chance that Josh could be back out on the streets in a scant four years.
In moments such as this, we’re often told to trust that the system works.
But that’s cold comfort in cases where the system already failed enabled Josh’s crimes and failed his victims so many times.
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