NEWSJill Duggar & Derick Dillard React To Josh Duggar's Sentencing: 'The Last Several Weeks & Months Have Been Difficult Emotionally'
May 26 2022, Published 1:52 p.m. ET
Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard are one of the first family members to react to Josh Duggar's sentencing, which occurred on Wednesday, May 25.
After the judge sentenced Josh to 151 months in jail (a little over 12 years) — he was found guilty of receiving and possessing child porn — Jill and her husband said, “The last several weeks and months have been difficult emotionally. Yesterday was another one of those hard days."
“Until now, he has yet to be held accountable to the extent necessary to cause change in his dangerous pattern of behavior,” the pair continued. “It is unfortunate, but it seems that it may take spending over a decade in federal prison, and still more on probation, for Josh to have any potential for rehabilitation to the point he can safely live in society again.”
- Amy Duggar Fumes After Her Cousin Josh Duggar's Sentence Is Revealed: 'Twelve & A Half Years Isn't Enough'
- Judge Who Sentenced Josh Duggar Calls His Crimes 'The Sickest Of The Sick': 'You Have Done Some Very Bad Things'
- Josh Duggar Had 'No Reaction' After Learning How Long He'd Go To Jail For, Onlooker Says
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The couple hope that Josh can “begin to get treatment and begin to work toward a lifestyle where he is less likely to reoffend.”
“We continue to love Josh and his family and will be there for them however we can,” they concluded.
Following the decision, Josh's wife, Anna Duggar, looked heartbroken, while Josh had "no reaction" to the news.
Judge Timothy L. Brooks, the judge who sentenced Josh called the disgraced reality star's crimes "the sickest of the sick."
“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,” he said in the courtroom. “I find it aggravating about the lack of responsibility," he said.
Meanwhile, Josh's cousin Amy Duggar was less than pleased with the outcome.
“Twelve and a half years isn’t enough,” she told Celebuzz! in a statement on Wednesday, May 25. “But I hope that every single second he’s there feels like an eternity.”
