Former reality TV star Joshua Duggar, 34, on Tuesday began serving his prison sentence at Federal Correctional Institute Seagoville outside of Dallas, according to the Bureau of Prisons inmate roster.
On May 25, Duggar was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison for his child pornography conviction in the Western District of Arkansas Federal Court in Fayetteville in December 2021.
He was held in the Washington County Jail from the date of his conviction until the process of transferring him to a federal facility began early Friday morning.
At sentencing, Duggar’s defense team offered Seagoville and Texarkana, a pair of federal prisons in Texas, as possible locations for him to serve his sentence, due to the proximity to his family.
Judge Timothy L. Brooks said that he would recommend Seagoville, space permitting, due to their “high-end treatment program” for sex offenders.
The prison is located in the southeastern corner of the Dallas metro area, approximately 350 miles away from where Duggar was sentenced. Seagoville is described as “a low security federal correctional institution with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp and a detention center” on the Bureau of Prisons website.
It is home to 1,740 male inmates, with 96 of those located at the institution’s camp. In 2020, it suffered a severe COVID-19 outbreak, with over 1,300 prisoners testing positive.
A 31-page document online details the prison’s sex offender programs, including specific components and policies.
The Bureau recognizes sex offenders as a vulnerable population within a prison setting. Institutional assignment, unit management, Psychology Treatment Programs, and re-entry planning promote the well-being of sex offenders while incarcerated and help both the offenders and society by reducing the likelihood of re-offence after release.
BUREAU OF PRISONS, CUSTODY & CARE OF SEX OFFENDERS POLICY
Seagoville’s program “consists of outpatient groups meeting 2-3 times per week for several hours,” and it takes 9-12 months to complete. The “moderate-intensity program” allows participants an opportunity to “learn basic skills and concepts to help them understand their past offenses and to reduce risk of future offending.” The program description notes that it is offered to “offenders evaluated to have low to moderate risk of reoffending.”
After he serves his prison term, Duggar will be subject to 20 years of supervised release, including several special conditions imposed by the judge at sentencing.