JOSH Duggar has been found guilty of possessing child pornography and is being taken into custody.
Duggar, 33, was arrested and charged with receiving and possessing child pornography in April 2021.
On Thursday he was found guilty of both possessing and receiving child pornography.
He now faces up to 20 years in prison on each count. Sentencing will come at a later date.
Judge Timothy L Brooks said that he plans to sentence Duggar in four months time.
He added: “Mr Duggar 100 percent has been compliant awaiting trial.
“I appreciate that and I wanted to acknowledge that however because of the guilty offenses he must be detained regardless of flight risk so there will be a mandatory detention. The marshalls will set that up.”
The charges are related to the 2019 Homeland Security raid on his now-shuttered used car dealership in Springdale, Arkansas.
In November 2019, Homeland Security Investigations conducted an “ongoing federal investigation” at the lot, but no charges were filed against Josh– until April 2021.
The guilty verdict is the culmination of a nearly two-week trial that saw graphic and disturbing details and testimony.
Among the most shocking revelations was the testimony from Josh’s ex-girlfriend’s mother, Bobye Holt, who broke down in tears and claimed in court that he once confessed to molesting a 5-year-old girl when he was a teen.
Bobye told the jury that she visited the Duggar’s home when Josh was 15, and at that time he confessed to touching the 5-year-old girl inappropriately.
“We have been friends with the Duggars for 36 years. Our children were best friends,” she told the courtroom.
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“Our oldest was Josh’s girlfriend in November of 2002. It was formal. They were 14.”
Bobye continued: “On March 23, 2003, Mr. Duggar asked us to come over for an important matter.
“They took us to their bedroom. Josh was on the floor.”
CHILD MOLESTATION
According to Bobye, Josh admitted to inappropriately touching several girls when he was “12 to 15 years old.”
Bobye alleged the youngest girl was 5-years-old and her molestation occurred during bible time.
The family friend then broke down in tears, as she revealed horrifying details of the molestation confession The Celeb Report has chosen not to include in this post.
She then testified that the plan was for her daughter and Josh to “get married,” but the parents decided to call off the courtship after learning of the alleged sexual abuse.
She explained: “He told us so our oldest daughter would know why the relationship had to end.
“Josh went to a facility for troubled youth.”
BOMBSHELL REPORT
In 2015, a police report was published that revealed his dad, Jim Bob, confessed to local authorities in 2006 that Josh inappropriately touched several young girls while they were asleep in the family home years prior.
The state used the molestation information at trial, as it shows his alleged “sexual interest in young girls.”
Josh’s legal team fought against it, as they claimed it’s “extremely and unfairly prejudicial.”
A judge sided with prosecution and allowed the testimony.
COMPUTER EVIDENCE
More damning evidence came when officials dissected Josh’s HP computer, which they argued had access to the dark web.
On one of the first days of the trial, it was revealed that one file name found on his HP desktop computer was of a video of a “3-month-old being sexually abused and tortured.”
During the third day of Josh’s trial, the jury was shown disturbing images and videos prosecutors claim were found on his computer.
A folder of child pornography was found in a cache folder in the downloads section on the computer.
The prosecution explained that the account linked to this computer has Josh’s name and address.
One folder contained 65 thumbnail files, which is where the disturbing content was found.
While some of the files were attempted to be downloaded onto the computer, prosecutors did not offer direct proof that the videos and images were successfully downloaded and watched by Josh.
James Fottrell, the Director of Department of Justice for Child Exploitation, took the stand and said in court of the thumbnails: “There are multiple photos of a minor girl.”
Sexually explicit images of minors were also found in one video, which stated in court is “30 minutes long.”
WAS JOSH THERE?
Prosecutor William Clayman then went through various dates in court on Friday with witness James.
Alleged texts from Josh’s phone, as well as photos taken on the device, were shown to take place at the same time that child pornography content was supposedly being downloaded at Wholesale Motorcars.
The alleged texts discussed cars and some included photos of vehicles from the lot.
A program used in court showed that the location of where the photos were taken was at the used car dealership.
On May 11, 2019, texts were sent from Josh’s phone to his employee Joshua Williams at 5.58pm and 5.59pm, discussing a car.
Photos were sent from the car lot at that time, as well.
On the same day, Linux/Ubuntu was installed on the computer to create the partition at 5.47pm, according to testimony at the trial.
On May 13, 2019, a photo was taken on Josh’s iPhone at 3:06pm at the car lot.
Soon after, TOR browser to access the dark web was downloaded.
Then on May 14, 2019, photos were taken at the car lot at 4.14pm, 4.20pm, 4.25pm and 6.01pm.
In one of the photos, those in court could see a person’s reflection in the computer screen wearing a Wholesale Motorcars hat.
Then at 4.49pm, a text from Josh’s phone read “got stuck here,” referring to the car lot.
Torrent files were downloaded on the Linux partition side of the computer soon after at 5.28pm and 5.38pm that depicted two explicit videos of minor girls ages 8-10 years old, according to the testimony.
More photos from the car lot were taken on the phone at 6.04pm and 6.07pm.
Just a couple of hours later at 8.14pm, photos on Josh’s phone showed him and his wife Anna shopping for doors at Lowes.
They even took a selfie, where Josh, 33, was wearing the same hat seen in the reflection of the computer screen earlier in the day.
On May 15, a text from Josh’s phone read at 5.01pm “I’m here” and at 5.08pm “will be here till 6.”
Child pornography videos and images were downloaded at 5.22pm, 5.25pm, 5.30pm, 5.32pm and 5:41pm.
Similar evidence was shown for May 16, 2019, as well.
During the questioning at the trial on Friday, James alleged to the prosecutor: “Josh Duggar was at the car lot every time child pornography was downloaded.”
FAMILY AFFAIR
Many members of the Duggar family sat in on the trial, offering support to their fallen family member.
Siblings Jana, Jason, Joy-Anna, her husband Austin Forsyth, Justin, Jessa and Jill’s husband Derick Dillard, along with father Jim Bob, were all present at some point.
Still, Josh was abandoned by some of his family members.
Cousin Amy King slammed Josh during the trial, tweeting: “We put dogs asleep for good if they just bite a child.”
Amy was outspoken in her support for the victims throughout the trial.
At one point, she even called on fans to “Please pray for the victims and for the truth to be revealed.”
She added: “Pray that the judge will give the ultimate sentence.”
In one cryptic post about the trial, Amy tweeted: “Hmm think about it we put dogs asleep for good if they just bite a child…”
REAL TV
Josh’s crimes are even more shocking because he and his family are known for their conservative views and strict family rules.
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are parents to 19 children and their reality show followed their life as a family together and apart.
The couple have nine girls and ten boys and all of their children have names that begin with the letter J, and they were all raised in the family home in Tontitown, Arkansas
The Duggars are devout independent Christian Baptists who take pride in living conservatively.
The show frequently touched on their values and their relationship with God.
The Duggars avoid birth control, saying they have decided to allow God to determine the number of children they have.
All of the children are homeschooled, and access to entertainment such as movies and television is limited.
The Duggars also practice chaperoned dating, in which a couple becomes acquainted only in a group setting.
19 Kids and Counting ran for seven years from 2008, until it was canceled in 2015, after the allegations against Josh were made public.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) at 800-656-HOPE (4673).
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