It’s been just over a year since Josh Duggar was convicted on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography.
The disgraced reality star and father of seven was sentenced to 151 months in prison for his crimes, and he will not be eligible for parole until 2032.
He currently resides at the Seagoville Federal Correctional Institute near Dallas.
But it looks as though Duggar will soon be heading back to court thanks to an appeal filed by his lawyers just weeks after his conviction.
According to a new report from northwest Arkansas Fox affiliate KNWA, a date has been set for oral arguments pertaining to Josh’s appeal.
It was announced today that the convicted predator will be back in court on Thursday, February 16, as his lawyers launch a Hail Mary effort to have Duggar acquitted of all charges against him.
The judge in Josh’s case has made it clear that lawyers for both sides will be required to present their arguments in court.
“Counsel may not waive oral argument without prior leave of court” the judge wrote, adding that “only one attorney is permitted to present the argument for a party.”
The prosecution has gone to great lengths to prevent the appeal from getting this far, arguing that the claims made by Duggar’s lawyers “uniformly lack merit.”
Josh’s legal team has countered that the court “violated Duggar’s right to present a complete defense” with its rulings during his trial.
Specifically, they take issue with the judge’s decision not to allow the defense to call to the stand a man named Caleb Williams.
Williams was a longtime friend of the Duggar family who is rumored to have briefly courted Josh’s eldest sister, Jana Duggar.
He’s also a convicted sex offender.
Josh says he hired Caleb to do some freelance IT work at his car dealership, and Williams took the opportunity to download child sexual abuse materials using Duggar’s office computer.
Williams says he can he prove that he was in a different state on the day that the CSAM were downloaded.
In court next month, lawyers for Duggar will request not only a second trial, but also permission to call Williams to the stand.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for Josh, as this will likely be his last chance to avoid spending the next decade behind bars.
In addition to his prison sentence, Josh will be required to undergo 20 years of supervised release, during which time he will not be permitted to spend any time alone in the presence of minors.
Insiders say Josh’s wife, Anna Duggar, remains convinced of his innocence.
She’ll likely be on hand to show her support when Josh returns to court in February.
Josh’s parents are also convinced that he’ll be acquitted on appeal, but don’t expect to see many of his siblings in the courtroom.
It seems most of them have finally seen the light and realized that their brother is a monster.
We’ll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.
Josh Duggar Heads Back to Court as Appeal Gets Underway; Is There a Chance He Could Go … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip .