• The former reality TV star Josh Duggar is set to be sentenced this month on a child pornography conviction.

• Duggar's attorneys filed a sentencing memo requesting a lenient five-year sentence.

• Federal prosecutors submitted a sentencing memo of their own, requesting a 20-year prison sentence.

The former reality TV star Josh Duggar, who was convicted late last year of receiving and possessing child pornography, asked a federal judge for mercy in a sentencing memorandum on Wednesday.

Duggar, 34, has maintained his innocence and his attorneys have said he intends to appeal the verdict. He is set to be sentenced on May 25, and prosecutors have demanded that he receive 20 years in prison, citing Duggar's "deep-seated, pervasive, and violent sexual interest in children."

In a 53-page memorandum, Duggar's attorneys requested a much lighter five-year prison term followed by supervised release. In their court filing, the attorneys pleaded with the judge for leniency, and at times even cast Duggar as the victim.

"Even before this Court pronounces its sentence, Duggar's life has already been shattered," his attorneys wrote. "His reputation, career, and family have all suffered."

Duggar stood trial last December on allegations of downloading numerous files of known child-sexual-abuse material. Prosecutors alleged that Duggar downloaded and viewed the material in May of 2019, using the desktop computer at his used car dealership in Arkansas.

Throughout the trial, federal agents and computer forensics experts testified in detail about the material found on Duggar's computer, the software he used, and even the lengths he went to to conceal his internet activity. Federal prosecutors used those details from the trial testimony in their own sentencing memo on Wednesday, arguing that Duggar's secretive conduct, lack of remorse, and the depravity of the files he accessed, warranted a harsh sentence.

(editor：)