Days after announcing he and his wife Anna are expecting their seventh child together, former 19 Kids and Counting star Josh Duggar was arrested in Arkansas and indicted on two federal charges of receiving and possessing child pornography.
Duggar, 33, was arrested by Homeland Security on Thursday and booked in Washington County jail, according to public records. In a virtual court appearance on Friday, he pleaded not guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. The official press release detailing the arrest was posted by the U.S. Attorney Office of the Western District of Arkansas on Friday, but was later deleted.
Duggar is accused of using the internet to download child sexual abuse in May 2019. Some of the images depicted the sexual abuse of children under the age of 12, according to the press release.
Duggar declined to have the judge read him his charges, The Wrap reported, and in a statement to the Associated Press, Duggar’s attorneys — Justin Gelfand, Travis W. Story and Greg Payne — said the former reality TV star plans to “defend this case aggressively and thoroughly.”
"Josh Duggar has been charged in a two-count indictment,” the statement read. “He has pled not guilty to both charges and we intend to defend this case aggressively and thoroughly. In this country, no one can stop prosecutors from charging a crime. But when you're accused, you can fight back in the courtroom — and that is exactly what Josh intends to do,"
The case is being prosecuted in part by the national initiative Project Safe Childhood, a program started in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child exploitation and abuse. Duggar’s bond hearing is scheduled for May 5. If granted, he will be allowed to go home, but minors cannot be in the home, according to the Arkansas Fox affiliate, KNWA.
On April 24, Duggar and his wife Anna had announced on Instagram that they’re expecting another child. “It’s a GIRL!!!!!” Anna captioned the post. “We are overjoyed to announce baby seven is on the way and we can’t wait to hold her in our arms this fall!”
Shortly after news broke about Duggar’s arrest, a number of family members have reacted with shock and sadness. Duggar's younger sister Jill and her husband, Derick Dillard, told PEOPLE in a statement, “We just found out this information yesterday. It is very sad.
Josh is the oldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. He was pulled from the TLC show in 2015 after confessing to his parents that he molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. Duggar apologized, but he was never charged for those accusations. He was also never considered a sex offender because the crimes were committed while he was a teenager. “We pray that in this he comes to complete repentance and sincere change,” his parents said in a statement at the time.
On Friday, Jim Bob and Michelle told Page Six they view the charges against their son as “very serious.” “We appreciate your continued prayers for our family at this time,” they said in a statement. “The accusations brought against Joshua today are very serious.”
If convicted, The New York Times reports that Duggar faces up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 on each count. A trial date is set for July 6.
0 comments:
Post a Comment