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Judge Denies Josh Duggar Bid to Dismiss Child Porn Charges

By Associated Press
Josh Duggar
Josh Duggar’s mugshot on April 29, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Washington County Detention Center)

A federal judge has denied motions seeking to dismiss child pornography charges against former reality TV star Josh Duggar.

U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks on Monday also denied motions to suppress all statements Duggar made to investigators and photos that were taken of him after he was in custody, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

Duggar, the eldest son in a conservative Christian family made famous by TLC’s 2008- 2015 reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” was charged in April with two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography.

He is accused of using the internet in May 2019 to download and possess the material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children younger than 12, according to court documents. He was indicted the following day and has pled not guilty.

If convicted, Duggar, who is married and has six children, could face up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 on each count. Days before his arrest, he and his wife had announced on social media they are expecting their seventh child, a girl.

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Duggar’s lawyers argued in their motion to dismiss that the government failed to preserve evidence that could have helped his defense. Brooks denied that motion on Monday.

Their motions to suppress evidence say investigators took Duggar’s cellphone before he could call his lawyer and questioned him without his lawyer present. The cellphone was seized while authorities executed a search warrant at a used-car dealership run by Duggar in November 2019.

The government contends Duggar was never placed in custody when the search warrant was being served, and that he voluntarily chose to talk with investigators.

Past sexual abuse scandals

It’s not the first time Duggar has been accused of sexual misconduct. In 2015, it was reported that he had molested underage girls as a teenager, including some of his own sisters. The Duggar family learned about Josh Duggar’s abuse in 2002 but didn’t make public for 13 years.

That same year, the public also learned that Duggar had been a member of Ashley Madison, a website for married people looking for adulterous relationships. Soon after, he checked himself into long-term rehab for pornography addiction.

The Duggar family was part of the Independent Fundamental Baptist denomination, an extremely conservative Christian movement.

According to the DOJ, this case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation.

Judge Brooks has set the jury trial for Nov. 30.

Related podcast: Julie Roys interviews a leading expert on “Understanding the Duggar Cult” 

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6 Responses

  1. Best thing I ever did in my life after salvation was reading the bible and stop going to church. I feel absolute peace about forsaking the fellowship because in America, the fellowship is really the corruption/game playing/shallowness. Franklin Graham is just a man who is making money off ministry. A human who poops. I follow no one but Jesus. Bunch of wolves.

    1. You said it perfectly barb. I’m in a small group and doing spiritually just fine. Sorry evangelical industrial complex. Jesus followers got you grifters figured out. Your profit centers are being exposed for what you are. The 21st century version of the Pharisees. Just as corrupt and controlling and evil. And it was the evangelicals who burned woman at the stake. One for just challenging some carpenters who took advantage of her. Google it.

  2. I don’t understand how a Father could have such awful images of children on his computer. I just don’t get it.

    1. It’s not a rational act. It’s a compulsion in the same way that many men (and some women) consume “regular” porn even if they’re in an otherwise healthy relationship, though obviously much more disordered than that.

      I used to know a therapist who treated men like Duggar. Her job wasn’t to cure them — there is no cure — but to keep them from offending, or reoffending, by helping keep that compulsion at bay. By not getting him the help he needed at an early age, Duggar’s parents bear considerable responsibility for this.

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