Quick (OK, long) primer:
Jim Bob Duggar is a cultish-Christian Arkansas state politician and the patriarch of a family of 19 children. The family was featured in the TLC reality show "19 Kids and Counting" from 2008-2015. In 2015, it became public knowledge that the oldest son of the clan, Josh Duggar, had been accused of sexual molestation when he was a teenager. He confessed his actions at the time, the molestation was covered up by Jim Bob and the family, and Jim Bob possibly used his political connections (my opinion) to suppress potential criminal charges after Josh confessed to the Arkansas State police. It was later revealed that two of Josh's sisters were among his victims. The TLC show was cancelled shortly after the allegations came to light.
Josh Duggar married and now has 7 children with his wife, Anna. At one time he served as Executive Director of the Family Research Council.
In 2019, an investigation into the online trade of child sex abuse material discovered that someone at a business owned by Josh Duggar was sharing illegal videos on BitTorrent. A search warrant was executed at the site and, according to federal agents, Duggar blurted out something along the lines of he knew they were there because of the videos. Files were found on his computer. He was arrested and eventually placed under house arrest while awaiting trial.
In October, Josh's defense team threw a Hail Mary to suppress the computer and video evidence, arguing the agents were initially not able to download the full video files from Josh's computer (and thus the search warrant was invalid) and that the examination of the devices took too long. The judge disagreed and ruled the evidence was admissible.
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/oct/19/in-blow-to-duggar-defense-judge-wont-suppress/
Yesterday, a pretrial hearing took place to determine whether Jim Bob and a family friend (both under subpoena by the prosecution) would be testifying about Josh's prior bad acts. Prosecutors are hoping to establish a pattern of behavior. The judge has not yet ruled on whether they will be permitted to testify. Jim Bob was on the stand today and was less than cooperative, repeatedly saying he didn't remember any details about Josh's confessions to him (guess he doesn't care much about what happened to his daughters) and at one point tried to big-time the federal judge overseeing the case.
Jury selection starts today. There will be no cameras or audio recordings of the proceedings due to the nature of the charges. Josh is charged with 1 count of receipt of child pornography and 1 count of possession. Each charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 months but sentencing guidelines will likely bump up the sentence quite a bit due to the age of the children in the videos, their content, and (if allowed to be introduced) the evidence of prior acts.
Jim Bob is currently running for a State Senate seat in a special election. He's running on a platform of family values.
Anna, Josh Duggar's wife, has remained steadfast in support. This is a good podcast exploring the Bill Gothard IBLP cult the Duggars belong to and why it is so hard for Anna to leave Josh despite his proclivities: https://julieroys.com/podcast/understanding-the-duggar-cult/
Jim Bob Duggar is a cultish-Christian Arkansas state politician and the patriarch of a family of 19 children. The family was featured in the TLC reality show "19 Kids and Counting" from 2008-2015. In 2015, it became public knowledge that the oldest son of the clan, Josh Duggar, had been accused of sexual molestation when he was a teenager. He confessed his actions at the time, the molestation was covered up by Jim Bob and the family, and Jim Bob possibly used his political connections (my opinion) to suppress potential criminal charges after Josh confessed to the Arkansas State police. It was later revealed that two of Josh's sisters were among his victims. The TLC show was cancelled shortly after the allegations came to light.
Josh Duggar married and now has 7 children with his wife, Anna. At one time he served as Executive Director of the Family Research Council.
In 2019, an investigation into the online trade of child sex abuse material discovered that someone at a business owned by Josh Duggar was sharing illegal videos on BitTorrent. A search warrant was executed at the site and, according to federal agents, Duggar blurted out something along the lines of he knew they were there because of the videos. Files were found on his computer. He was arrested and eventually placed under house arrest while awaiting trial.
In October, Josh's defense team threw a Hail Mary to suppress the computer and video evidence, arguing the agents were initially not able to download the full video files from Josh's computer (and thus the search warrant was invalid) and that the examination of the devices took too long. The judge disagreed and ruled the evidence was admissible.
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/oct/19/in-blow-to-duggar-defense-judge-wont-suppress/
Yesterday, a pretrial hearing took place to determine whether Jim Bob and a family friend (both under subpoena by the prosecution) would be testifying about Josh's prior bad acts. Prosecutors are hoping to establish a pattern of behavior. The judge has not yet ruled on whether they will be permitted to testify. Jim Bob was on the stand today and was less than cooperative, repeatedly saying he didn't remember any details about Josh's confessions to him (guess he doesn't care much about what happened to his daughters) and at one point tried to big-time the federal judge overseeing the case.
https://people.com/tv/josh-duggar-child-porn-case-jim-bob-subpoenaed-to-testify/Quote:
Later, he said "I can't remember" when asked about the report and called it "tabloid information." "I'm not going to allow it, are you going to allow for that?" he asked judge Timothy L. Brooks.
After prosecutors asked him to read a copy of the report, Jim Bob said "I'm not going to do that," but ultimately said his memory was not jogged by reading the report in his head.
"If there is [an] objection to be made, someone will make it but it won't be you," the judge told him.
Jury selection starts today. There will be no cameras or audio recordings of the proceedings due to the nature of the charges. Josh is charged with 1 count of receipt of child pornography and 1 count of possession. Each charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 months but sentencing guidelines will likely bump up the sentence quite a bit due to the age of the children in the videos, their content, and (if allowed to be introduced) the evidence of prior acts.
Jim Bob is currently running for a State Senate seat in a special election. He's running on a platform of family values.
Anna, Josh Duggar's wife, has remained steadfast in support. This is a good podcast exploring the Bill Gothard IBLP cult the Duggars belong to and why it is so hard for Anna to leave Josh despite his proclivities: https://julieroys.com/podcast/understanding-the-duggar-cult/