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Former ‘19 Kids and Counting’ Star Anna Duggar ‘Hoped’ Josh Duggar Was Innocent: ‘She Believed Him’
Former 19 Kids and Counting star Anna Duggar‘s (née Keller) remained hopeful that her husband, Josh Duggar, was innocent amid his child pornography trial and believed he had “repented,” a source exclusively tells In Touch.
“Anna hoped Josh didn’t do these things,” the insider says. “She believed him when he told her that had sinned back in the day, that he repented and got help.”
A federal jury found Josh, 33, guilty of one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography on Thursday, December 9, after a six-day trial. He could face up to 20 years and $250,000 in fines for each count.
According to prosecutors, some of the images and videos found on devices used by Josh were of children under the age of 12.
“She truly believed he was concentrating on being a good father,” the source adds.
An attorney for Josh did not immediately respond to In Touch‘s request for comment.
Josh and Anna, 33, share seven children, all 12 and under: Mackynzie, Michael, Marcus, Meredith, Mason, Maryella and Madyson, the last of whom they welcomed in October 2021.
Anna was present throughout the trial and supported her husband; she was frequently photographed holding his hand tightly as they entered and exited the federal courthouse. Before being taken into custody following the announcement of the verdict, Josh was seen telling Anna he “loved” her.
According to Goldie Schon, a Los Angeles family lawyer, the disgraced reality TV star’s guilty verdict may affect his custody or visitation rights to his children.
Anna “would have the right essentially to go back to court to modify [any visitation rights] to make it less to whatever it is now if, in fact, he has unsupervised time with those kids if they’re in danger,” Schon told In Touch on December 10.
“[Anna] definitely has a lot of ammunition at this point since he was found guilty in order to minimize his time or cause the time to be supervised with the children to ensure that the safety of the children is maintained,” Schon added. “If he is incarcerated, there’s not going to be any time with the children anyway, so she will get a modification in order to change custody to her primarily and solely.”
“[Anna] has the right to basically go in and ask for [for custody changes], but if he’s incarcerated, he’s not going to see those kids,” the family lawyer said. “If he’s out, it’s truly up to [her] and him and a probation officer.”
Josh currently remains in custody and is awaiting his sentencing hearing.
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