Former ’19 Kids and Counting’ Star Josh Duggar’s Arrest, Trial and Child Porn Charges: Everything We Know

Police Custody

Josh was arrested on April 29, 2021, In Touch confirmed at the time. He was held in a detention center without bond and the charges against him were undisclosed.

Arraignment Hearing

The next day, the father of seven was indicted and arraigned in court via Zoom on April 30, 2021. Josh pleaded not guilty to receiving and possessing child pornography. 

Family Statement

Jim Bob and Michelle released their own statement on April 30, 2021, via their family blog.

“We appreciate your continued prayers for our family at this time,” Josh’s parents’ statement read. “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.”

Released

The disgraced reality star was released on bond on May 6, 2021, one week after being arrested on two counts of child pornography charges.

1st Photos

Josh was spotted for the first time following his release from jail. He emerged from the detention center in an untucked shirt, jeans and sneakers, according to photos obtained by the Daily Mail.

Bail Hearing

Josh’s request to be released on bond was approved by judge Christy Comstock on May 5, 2021, In Touch confirmed.

“I will tell you that your own children, and your siblings’ children and your [minor] brothers and sisters, they’re all part of the larger society that the court must consider in protecting from you,” Judge Comstock explained to the TLC personality during the hearing. “I cannot in good conscience, send you home.”

As a result, Lacount and Maria Reber, described in court as “close friends” of the Duggars, were Josh’s third-party custodians. Upon Josh’s release from prison on May 6, 2021, he was monitored at the Reber residence via GPS tracking.

While Josh was staying with the Reber family, he had unlimited access to his children, under the condition that Anna was present, and was permitted to leave the home to attend church, work, legal appointments and seek medical care.

Case Update

The judge overseeing his case issued a protective order on June 11, 2021, which protects the identities of child victims and government witnesses by keeping any “sensitive information” under seal, In Touch can confirm. This means the information will not be available to the public or names must be redacted.

Postponement Confirmed

After Duggar’s legal team requested the court move his child pornography trial from July 2021 to “in or after February 2022,” the judge ultimately approved Duggar’s motion to extend the trial date, In Touch confirmed at the time. His new trial date was moved to November 30, 2021, and his pretrial conference was on November 18, 2021.

Motion to Dismiss

According to court docs filed in August 2021, Duggar’s attorneys claimed prosecutors failed to preserve evidence that could have potentially proved his innocence. They filed a motion to dismiss two of the charges against him — one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. A separate motion was also requested to dismiss the indictment because two secretaries at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had not been officially appointed at the time of Josh’s investigation.

Evidence Ruling

In September 2021, federal prosecutors filed a response to the defendant’s motion, in which Duggar’s legal team asked a judge to suppress “photographs law enforcement took of Duggar’s hands and feet while requiring him to pose for the photographs in custody.”

His lawyers claimed that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigators did not have a warrant, so they should not have been allowed to take those images. However, the federal prosecutors claimed that there was no basis for a judge to dismiss the case against Duggar or suppress any evidence, including photos taken during his arrest.

Motions Denied

A judge denied four of Duggar’s five motions in September 2021, including the defense’s motion to dismiss the case entirely.

The motion to suppress statements that Duggar allegedly made to federal agents during the investigation was also rejected, as was their attempt to suppress photographs taken of their client’s hands and feet at the time of his arrest. The motion to dismiss the indictment because of who was in charge of the Department of Homeland Security at the time was denied too. The fifth motion tied to suppressing evidence had not been ruled on.

Alibi Defense

In October 2021, In Touch confirmed federal prosecutors asked the court to order Duggar to provide his alibi defense – what he was doing from May 14 to May 16, 2019, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at his business Wholesale Motors in Tontitown, Arkansas.

They also asked for “the name, address and telephone number of each alibi witness on whom the Defendant intends to rely.”

Anna Gives Birth to Baby No. 7

Anna announced the arrival of baby No. 7 via Instagram on November 16, 2021. “Meet little Madyson Lily Duggar!” she shared, alongside the first photo of her and her husband’s newborn.

Pleading for an Extension

Duggar’s legal team reportedly sought a 10-day extension to file a new motion in his case, which was ultimately approved by Judge Timothy L. Brooks. Duggar and his team had until January 19, 2022, to submit the court documents, following his lawyer’s statement about their plans to appeal on December 9, 2021. 

“We respect the jury’s verdict and we look forward to continuing this on appeal,” Duggar’s lawyer said after his conviction.

Prison Calls

Anna made 39 calls to her husband from December 12, 2021, to January 2, 2022, The Sun reported.

The couple had five separate calls on Christmas Eve totaling 47 minutes. Anna also made two calls on Christmas Day totaling around 27 minutes. She called him three times on New Year’s Eve for about 20 minutes and three times on New Year’s Day for over 40 minutes.

Mom Michelle video chatted with him on January 2, 2022, for nearly six minutes.

Anna Breaks Her Silence

On February 3, 2022, Anna took to Instagram and wrote, “There is more to the story.” She then directed followers to a link in her bio for Duggar’s motion for acquittal or new trial.

In the paperwork obtained by In Touch, Duggar’s attorneys argued that the prosecution failed to present evidence that Duggar “knew that the visual depictions were of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.”

“The evidence elicited at trial does not support a conviction on either count — even in the light most favorable to the Government. Specifically, even accepting arguendo and only for purposes of this motion the allegation that Duggar received and possessed visual depictions of child pornography, the Government failed to adduce any evidence that Duggar ‘knew that the visual depictions were of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct’ — a necessary element for conviction of each count,” his lawyers explained in the docs.

They also argued that there was no evidence that Duggar actually viewed the child porn images allegedly found on his computer.

Request to Delay Sentence Hearing

Just weeks after celebrating his 34th birthday behind bars, Duggar’s legal team requested to delay his sentencing hearing by 30 days. The hearing was set to take place on April 5, 2022, but in documents obtained by In Touch, his lawyers asked for the postponement in order to have more time to “pursue additional information and documentation.”

His lawyer explained that it was “more difficult scheduling meetings” with the defense attorney due to “certain reasonable COVID-19 precautions understandably instituted at the jail.”

The delay “is not intended to unnecessarily delay or hinder the proceedings,” but instead, to “allow Duggar sufficient time to acquire all relevant information which will be necessary for fully briefing Section 3553 argument, to confer with his counsel and to alleviate certain scheduling issues arising out of unrelated cases,” the filing concluded.

Charged

Duggar was sentenced to 151 months behind bars on May 25. During the proceedings, Judge Brooks ruled that Duggar did not knowingly distribute child pornography, dropping one of the two charges. He was taken into custody and transferred to the Texas facility on June 24, 2022.

His sentencing came five months after he was charged with one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography on December 9, 2021.

Unrecognizable in Prison

Josh looked unrecognizable with long hair and a scruffy beard in October while behind bars in Texas’ Federal Correctional Institute Seagoville.

Appeal Filed

After multiple extension requests, Josh’s legal team filed an appeal on October 3, 2022.

Appeal Pushed Back

More than one month after Josh Duggar’s legal team filed an appeal in his case in October 2022, the United States government responded to the motion. Both sides presented their arguments in court on November 22, with Josh’s team asserting “errors in three of the district court’s evidentiary rulings.”

The disgraced 19 Kids and Counting alum’s team argued that the “court’s limitation on his questioning of a potential witness deprived him of his constitutional right to present a defense, the court’s resolution of his pretrial motion to suppress statements that he voluntarily offered to investigators during the car-lot search and the court abused its discretion when admitting and delimiting testimony about geolocation metadata extracted from one of his devices.”

For their part, the U.S. government argued that there was “abundant evidence established that Joshua Duggar downloaded child sexual abuse material on a partition he set up, using his recurring password, on his computer, in his office, on the premises of his car lot.” The U.S. government also noted that even if any of the “evidentiary rulings had gone the other way, any rational jury would still have convicted Duggar.”

Appeal Update

On November 30, 2022, Josh’s legal team requested more time in which to file his appeal reply brief. They asked for an additional 14 days with the reason being “the complexity of the issues on appeal and the need for undersigned counsel to confer with Duggar, who is in custody,” in court paperwork obtained by In Touch.
Josh’s opening appeal brief was filed on October 4, with the government responding to it on November 22. The current deadline for the former reality star’s appeal reply brief is December 13. The government has not opposed the two-week delay request so far.

Appeal Argued

Appeal Decision

Duggar’s appeal in his child pornography case was terminated indefinitely on October 5, 2023, according to legal documents viewed by In Touch.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has chosen to uphold Josh’s conviction after he was found guilty during his December 2021 trial.