Josh Duggar is not ready to face a jury of his peers.
The seemingly horrible former reality star was arrested on April on two counts of child pornography possession and is scheduled to go on trial in less than a month.
The current date is July 6.
However, Duggar’s legal team just filed a motion to push this date way back… all the way to February 2022 (at the earliest) due to the supposed complexity of the ongoing case.
In court documents, Josh’s lawyers referred to the situation as especially complicated, given the fact that it involves a “several-year federal investigation” with allegations of the “dark web” and “peer-to-peer BitTorrent file-sharing networks.”
These are fancy and legal terms.
But they simply sum up what we’ve already detailed in most of our reporting.
Duggar is accused of downloading hundreds of sexually explicit videos/photos of minors (as young as 18 months old) in the spring of 2019, allegedly doing so from his work computer.
According to police records and various reports, Duggar actually had software in place — put there by his wife, Anna — on his computer that would prevent him from accessing these kinds of videos or photos.
However, he allegedly downloaded separate software to override this prevention.
Still, though, federal agents were able to navigate the Internet and determine that Josh was, indeed, visiting inappropriate and/or illegal websites.
As such, per an official affidavit, the allegations against the 33-year old are based on “computer forensic evidence and anticipated expert opinion testimony.”
In response to the charges, Josh’s defense team has “retained an independent computer forensic expert who must conduct a computer forensic examination of each of the devices at issue.”
The lawyers say this will be “a time-consuming process that requires review at a government facility for the one device the Government alleged contained child pornography.”
They say this could take “several months.”
Hence the request to push the trial back to February.
The defense also alleges there are key witnesses the government didn’t interview, as well as possible evidence that wasn’t obtained during the investigation.
They basicallly want as much time as possiblle to get their $hit together in order to construct the most stout defense of Josh as they can.
Reads the specific filing from this week:
“The defense requests a trial date in or after February 2022 to give Duggar sufficient time to fully prepare a defense in this case and due to certain scheduling conflicts during the remainder of 2021.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas revealed the nature of the charges against Duggar in a press release on April 30.
“A Springdale man was arrested yesterday for receiving and possessing material depicting the sexual abuse of children,” the release began.
“According to court documents, Joshua James Duggar, 33, allegedly used the internet to download child sexual abuse material.
“Duggar allegedly possessed this material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, in May 2019.”
Josh, the oldest child of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, was detained without bond at the time.
The news came days after his wife, Anna Duggar, announced that the couple is expecting their seventh child.
“It’s a GIRL!!!!!” Anna wrote via Instagram on April 24, adding:
“We are overjoyed to announce baby seven is on the way and we can’t wait to hold her in our arms this fall!”
The twosome, who got married in 2008, share six kids:
- Mackynzie (born October 2009)
- Michael (June 2011)
- Marcus (June 2013)
- Meredith (July 2015)
- Mason (September 2017)
- Maryella (November 2019)
Back in 2015, Josh Duggar also made negative headlines when resurfaced court documents revealed he molested five girls — four of which were related to him — between 2002 and 2003.
He was 14 and 15 years old at the time.
“Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends,” Josh said in a statement via Facebook at the time.
“We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling.
“I understood that if I continued down this wrong road that I would end up ruining my life.”
Josh also confessed to cheating on his wife six years ago and then entered rehab for an alleged sex addiction.
Back to the present, though…
“Duggar is charged by indictment with receiving and possessing child pornography,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s press release addded.
If he’s found guilty, the disgraced ex-reality TV personality faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines for each count.
“We appreciate your continued prayers for our family at this time,” Jim Bob and Michelle said in a statement on April 30.
“The accusations brought against Joshua today are very serious.
“It is our prayer that the truth, no matter what it is, will come to light, and that this will all be resolved in a timely manner.
“We love Josh and Anna and continue to pray for their family.”