Not backing down. Amy Duggar is speaking out after her cousin Josh Duggar was sentenced to 151 months in prison on child pornography charges.
“Twelve and a half years isn’t enough,” Amy told Celebuzz! in a statement on Wednesday, May 25. “But I hope that every single second he’s there feels like an eternity.”
Us confirmed on Wednesday that Judge Timothy L. Brooks, who called Josh’s crimes “the sickest of the sick,” sentenced him to 12 and 1/2 years behind bars after he was found guilty on two charges of receiving and possessing child abuse images in late 2021. He was facing up to 20 years.
“I knew him getting the maximum sentence wasn’t going to be the easiest to prove since it’s his first offense in the judge’s eyes — which I hate — but at the same time, he cannot have his computer, he cannot hurt, exploit any more children and when he sees his kids, he has to be supervised,” Amy said via an Instagram video on Wednesday. “And honestly, where he’s going, I feel like the prisoners are just gonna take care of him.”
Amy, who wrote a letter pleading with the judge prior to Wednesday’s hearing, added that believes the case is “far from over.”
“Josh’s sickness stems from somewhere, and eventually we will hear about the trauma. I don’t know when, or how, or who but eventually I think more will come out,” she said. “But hopefully tonight, I can sleep for the first time ever and rest assured that another monster will be put behind bars makes my heart feel a little lighter.”
The former 19 Kids and Counting star’s lawyer, meanwhile, told the press outside of the hearing that he plans to file an appeal in the next two weeks.
Prior court documents previously revealed that Josh was accused of molesting five girls — several of which were related to him — in 2002 and 2003. He also admitted to cheating on wife Anna Duggar after his Ashley Madison account was uncovered in 2015.
Anna has stayed by Josh’s side, supporting him in court on Wednesday. The twosome share seven kids: Mackynzie, 12, Michael, 10, Marcus, 8, Meredith, 6, Mason, 4, and Maryella, 2, and Madyson, 7 months.
Josh’s father, Jim Bob Duggar, and Josh’s siblings Joy-Anna Duggar and Jason Duggar were also spotted leaving the hearing in Arkansas on Wednesday.
