Josh Duggar child porn trial: Father of 7 faces decades in jail for 'worst of the worst' crime
FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS: Jim Bob's son Josh Duggar is set to appear in court on November 30 as trial begins in the child pornography case against him. A federal investigation found that the father of seven kids and a used car salesman had over 200 images that were flagged as child sexual abuse material on his work computer. Duggar was in court on November 18 for a pre-trial conference where his defense team and the prosecution argued over what evidence would be allowed to be presented to jurors. Jury selection begins on Monday in the Western District of Arkansas Courthouse in Fayetteville for the trial of the former reality star who faces one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
Duggar was taken into custody on April 29, 2021, however, the allegations about him being a sex pest have dated back to the beginning of the 2000s. In 2002-2003, as a 14 or 15-year-old teenager Duggar had allegedly molested five minor girls, four of them being his sisters all of who were at least three years younger than him. He was sent to a Christian program by his father after his son admitted to the alleged activities. Duggar's sisters filed a lawsuit against him in 2017 alleging violation of their privacy after In Touch Weekly released the police reports from 2006 regarding sexual molestation charges against Josh as a youth. TLC canceled their highly successful show '19 Kids and Counting' featuring the family in the midst of all this chaos.
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In 2019, Homeland Security investigated his computer at Wholesale Motorcars and found that he allegedly downloaded images depicting child sex abuse involving children from the age of 18 months to 12 years. Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Gerald Faulkner had discussed those images, describing the findings as being "in the top five of the worst of the worst that I've ever had to examine." If convicted at the end of his trial by the jurors, Duggar could face a massive 20 year jail time and fines up to $250,000 for each count.
Apart from the child porn case and molestation allegations against him, Josh was also sued by Danica Dillon in March 2015 who said he paid for "her company" at a Philadelphia strip club and during sex he assaulted her leaving causing her to suffer physically and emotionally. He was also named as one of the members on Ashley Madison, a Canadian-based website for adults seeking extramarital affairs after which he admitted, "I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the Internet and this has become a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife," he said. His wife Anna who is standing rock solid next to him gave birth to their seventh child, a daughter Madyson Lily Duggar on October 23.