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The wife and family of disgraced reality star Josh Duggar visit him regularly while he is serving his 151-month prison sentence for possession of child pornography, sources said.
Duggar, 34, who grew up starring on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, was convicted last December of downloading a trove of “worst of the worst” child pornography.
Despite his vile crime, sources told the US sun Duggar’s wife, Anna, and their seven children visit FCI Seagoville in Dallas, Texas, where he is incarcerated “fairly regularly.” The prison is reported to be “dangerous” and poorly run.
Last month, Duggar claimed in a court filing that police “held” him during questioning after his arrest, and that Caleb Williams, his employer and registered sex offender, was the one who committed the child pornography offence.
Josh Duggar, 34, was sentenced to 151 months in prison for possession of child pornography
Josh Duggar with his wife Anna and their six children. now has seven children
The relative of another inmate at FCI Seagoville said he has seen the Duggars at the prison numerous times.
We have seen Anna on visits quite regularly. I’ve talked to Anna a couple of times. Normally, the only thing I have seen is Anna and then her children, ”they said. I don’t really know anyone else.
The source said the prison provided ‘board games and blocks’ in the visiting area to keep children occupied, but otherwise it could be very difficult for families to visit.
She said the prison doesn’t allow visitors to wear clothing that could be seen as provocative, and its rules sometimes change from visit to visit.
FCI Seagoville in Dallas, Texas. The prison is reported to be “dangerous” and poorly run.
Duggar with his wife and children. He was sentenced to 151 months in prison for possession of child pornography.
‘It’s kind of a dice game about whatever they’re going to say is out of politics today. A guard told me that he had too many pins in his hair to get in or that my mask was the wrong color,” the source said.
“They tried to turn me away because I was wearing a dress. I had worn the same dress the week before and they said it was fine, but this time they said it was too sexually provocative.
The source added that visitors are often left ‘waiting for hours’.
There is always a delay. A couple of weeks ago, they said there was no power. He’s in and out all the time, so they use it as an excuse to make us wait a couple of hours before we can get in.
Josh Duggar holds hands with his wife Anna as he leaves court during his child pornography trial
Josh and Anna Duggar hold hands as he stands trial for possession of child pornography
The source said it can be difficult to just walk in, and that visitors are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Visits are supposed to start at 8:15 a.m. and last until 3:30 p.m. I arrive around 7:00 a.m. just to be early in line,” the source said. “And they start processing us anytime between 8:15 am and 9:30 am Just when they feel like it.
The source added that visits usually end up to an hour earlier than they’re supposed to, and that while they’re there they sit on “plastic chairs” in a “really cold” room while talking to their incarcerated loved ones.
“Sometimes there is food in the vending machines, but he often goes weeks with nothing. It is very uncomfortable.
‘Members can have a kiss and a hug at the beginning and at the end of the visit. Until a couple of weeks ago, they allowed inmates and visitors to hold hands. It was really lovely.
“But they rotated another guard on the shift and now they don’t allow it anymore.”
Josh Duggar appeared on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting
The Duggar family on their TLC show, 19 Kids and Counting
Sources close to the prison have previously claimed that FCI Seagoville often serves inmates badly expired food, goes weeks without heat or hot water, even in the dead of winter, and has a faulty power system that relies on equally unreliable generators.
A source also told the US Sun that “there really isn’t much security because they are dramatically understaffed.”
“The prison has pretty strong politics, which means there are gangs in it. Fortunately, it is not as violent as a medium security installation. It’s actually not a very violent facility.
“But it’s just a dangerous situation, given the level of neglect and I know my family member has been concerned about him, I guess I’d say he’s always concerned about his well-being, even if he feels physically safe.”
FCI Seagoville in Dallas, Texas. According to reports, the prison often has no electricity or heating.
Josh Duggar in a 2021 mugshot. He was found guilty of possession of child pornography
Duggar made headlines in 2015 when police reports became public that he had sexually abused four of his younger sisters when he was 12 years old. His parents said that he had confessed to the fondling and apologized.
During his child pornography trial, he learned that Duggar scoured the dark web for sick videos of little girls being tortured, humiliated and abused.
Graphic titles like ‘pedo mom’, ‘play tot sweetie’, ‘Daisy’s destroy’ and ‘ultra hard pedo pedophilia’, left little to the imagination. One video ended with a girl caged in a kennel. Another series of images showed a minor being raped by an adult male.
The videos were downloaded between May 14 and 16, 2019.
The warped cache was so disturbing that an experienced FBI child exploitation investigator said it was “in the top five of the worst I’ve ever had to examine.”
At the time of trial, defense attorneys argued that a former employee or hacker could have exploited Duggar’s lax Internet security to hijack his computer and download the material remotely without anyone knowing.
Josh Duggar (back right) with his many siblings on 19 Kids and Counting
Duggar is now asking for a new trial, alleging that armed officers prevented him from contacting his lawyer and forced him to question him during his arrest.
In his court filing, he claimed that he was “shocked” by the ambush and that he was only allowed to leave on the orders of the officers.
‘Duggar immediately pulled out his phone and said he was calling his lawyer. [An agent] took the phone from Duggar’s hand, preventing him from calling an attorney,” the filing reads.
But, federal officials responded to Duggar’s claims, insisting: “Duggar was allegedly told he was free to go.”
“The government also maintains that Duggar was not restrained,” the filing continued. ‘But restraint is about more than being handcuffed.
‘Duggar was placed in a police vehicle with two armed officers. They told him that his lawyer could not join him after he tried to call a lawyer and that he did not have access to a vehicle.
His lawyers argued that anyone in Duggar’s position should have felt “significantly deprived of their freedom of action.”