Derick Dillard reacts after brother-in-law Josh Duggar is convicted on child sexual abuse images charges

Duggar, a former reality TV personality, was taken into custody after verdict

Derick Dillard has spoken out after his brother-in-law Josh Duggar’s conviction on child sexual abuse images charges.

Duggar, a former reality TV personality, was found guilty by a federal jury on Thursday (9 December) of downloading and possessing the material. He was taken into custody after the verdict and now faces up to 40 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

Dillard is married to Duggar’s sister Jill Duggar Dillard. He attended parts of Josh Duggar’s trial, and according to People, Jill Duggar Dillard was present during the proceedings on Wednesday (8 December).

“We just wanted to, among other things, see the facts for ourselves,” Derick Dillard told the magazine. “America is the best country to get justice.”

On Wednesday, Derick Dillard had tweeted that he was “praying for justice this morning” as the jury in Fayetteville, Arkansas, began deliberating.

Josh Duggar and his family starred on TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting until the network cancelled the show in 2015.

Earlier this year, in April, Josh Duggar was arrested and pleaded not guilty to child sexual abuse images charges.

Josh Duggar in a booking photo following his arrest on 29 April 2021 in Fayetteville, Arkansas (Washington County Sheriff’s Office via Getty Images)

Federal authorities said they began investigating after a Little Rock police detective found child sexual abuse files were being shared by a computer traced to Duggar. A federal agent testified in May that images depicting the sexual abuse of children were downloaded in 2019 onto a computer at a car dealership Duggar owned.

Duggar’s attorney argued that someone else downloaded or uploaded the images onto Duggar’s computer, but the jury wasn’t swayed.

Duggar is expected to face sentencing in about four months.

“We respect the jury's verdict and we look forward to continuing this fight on appeal,” said Justin Gelfand, one of his defence attorneys.

Duggar's father Jim Bob Duggar, who also starred on the reality show, is running in a special election for a vacant state senate seat in northwestern Arkansas, and the primary election in that race is on Tuesday. He previously served in the Arkansas House.

The Associated Press contributed to this story