Josh Duggar Found Guilty of Possessing Child Pornography
19 Kids and Counting star Josh Duggar has been found guilty of possessing child pornography.
On Thursday (Dec. 9), a Fayetteville, Ark. jury found the reality star guilty on two counts, including receiving and possessing the child pornography. Duggar could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. It is unclear when his sentencing will take place.
The federal case began on Nov. 30 when the defense argued that someone else downloaded the child pornography to Duggar's computer. According to court documents, Duggar created a Linux partition, which acted as a separate computer, in order to download the images of sexual abuse to a work computer at a used car dealership. Some of the victims were under the age of 10.
Duggar's wife, Anna, with whom he shares seven children, sat in the front row every day of the trial.
Computer forensic analyst James Follett testified that one of Duggar's old iPhones was used near his computer at the time Duggar downloaded the child pornography. He noted that along with the time and place connections, they discovered similar passwords being used, geolocation confirmations and timestamped text messages and photos to corroborate that Duggar downloaded the material.
In addition, the Duggar family's longtime family friend Bobye Holt testified that Duggar admitted to her in 2003 and again in 2005 that he molested four female children when he was 12, as well as again when he turned 15. One of the girls was just 5 at the time of the assault.
Homeland Security discovered the child pornography on Duggar's Wholesale Motorcars computer back in 2019. Duggar pleaded not guilty to the crimes.
The spinoff of 19 Kids and Counting, Counting On, was canceled following Duggar's charges.