JOSH Duggar has been slammed by US attorneys for begging an Arkansas judge to “delay” his trial for child porn charges so his team can “investigate his computers.”
Josh, 33, was arrested and charged with receiving and possessing child pornography in April, as he awaits his trial on home confinement.
The 19 Kids and Counting alum requested the court postpone his trial date “in or after February 2022.”
The Sun can exclusively reveal an attorney for the United States has slammed his “unnecessary” request to postpone the trial to February 2022.
Court papers obtained by The Sun reveal the United States “does not oppose a reasonable continuance of approximately three months to allow a defense hired expert to review the digital evidence in this case and provide a subsequent opinion.”
However, they called his requested continuance until February of 2022 an “unnecessary delay.”
The filing revealed the evidence filed “consists of two separate computers, one containing the Child Sexual Abuse Material charged in the Indictment and the other containing relevant corroborative evidence, such as text messages and digital photographs, placing Mr. Duggar in proximity to the computer containing CSAM during the relevant timeframe.”
Josh’s defense team’s review of the computers is scheduled to take place Wednesday, June 23 and will conclude on or before Friday, June 25.
They claimed there “exists no legally or factually valid reason supporting a continuance until February of 2022.”
The United States claimed Josh’s attorneys have had the evidence since May and “three additional months should provide ample time to ‘complete’ their review of the reports and identify any alleged witnesses favorable to the defense.”
In Josh’s motion, he claimed the government failed to give documents related to the Little Rock Police Department’s involvement in the case.
But the United States insisted in the court papers that they “turned over all reports in its possession.”
The filing concluded: “The United States does not oppose an approximately three month continuance to allow for the defense hired expert to complete a review of the digital evidence, but maintains that the request for a continuance until February of 2022 is unsupported and would result in unnecessary delay.”
As The Sun previously reported, Josh requested the court postpone his July 2021 trial date “in or after February 2022.”
Josh’s legal team called the case “complex,” as it involved a “several-year federal investigation” with allegations of the “dark web” and “peer-to-peer BitTorrent file-sharing networks,” both of which are common in the receiving of child pornography.
The Government’s allegations against Jim Bob and Michelle’s son center around “computer forensic evidence and anticipated expert opinion testimony.”
The court papers claimed the defense has "retained an independent computer forensic expert who must conduct a computer forensic examination of each of the devices at issue—a time-consuming process that requires review at a government facility for the one device the Government alleges contained child pornography.”
The defense’s expert must also “conduct a time-intensive process of reviewing the remaining devices that the Government does not allege contained child pornography.”
This process may take "several months.”
The defense also requires “additional time to complete its review of the discovery and, separately, to pursue certain investigative leads based on the discovery.”
They claim there are certain key witnesses the Government did not interview and possible evidence not obtained during the investigation.
The court papers also argue the defense requested additional discovery, which is evidence, from the government that has not been received, including police reports or documents from Little Rock Police Department’s investigation.
The Government also disclosed that two other agencies were involved “in a minimal capacity” in the investigation, though the defense has not been made aware of which, they claim.
The defense also believes there will be an evidentiary hearing, which involves witness testimony, before trial.
The defense team claims the evidentiary hearing could even “obviate the need for a trial.”
The court documents continued to claim: "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 Sun previously broke Josh was arrested for the federal charges in Washington County.
The arrest is related to the 2019 Homeland Security raid on Josh's now-closed used car dealership in Springdale, Arkansas.
According to the indictment, Josh “knowingly received child pornography” between or about May 14, 2019 and on or about May 16, 2019.
For the second count, Josh “knowingly possessed material that contained images of child pornography,” including “images of minors under the age of 12.”
If convicted, he could receive 20 years in prison with fines up to $250,000 for each count.
Josh pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment and was released a week after the arrest.
Special Agent Gerald Faulkner from Homeland Security was the first to take the stand at the bond hearing, as he was questioned by the prosecutor.
He said: “In May of 2019, [an Arkansas police officer] identified a computer participating in the known sharing of photos and videos of child pornography.”
He claimed Josh had one two-minute video on his computer of two underage females and a male who performed sexual acts on the children.
Also found were 65 images of an underage female “consistent with child pornography.”
The victims were ages 5 to 10.
It was also alleged Josh accessed the dark web in order to get a hold of the images.
Josh admitted he had a TOR browser on his computer, which gave him access to the dark web anonymously.
The former 19 Kids and Counting star is currently on home confinement until his trial and is living with third party custodians LaCount and Maria Reber, who are longtime friends of Jim Bob and Michelle.
Josh is residing in a massive mansion in Elkins, Arkansas with the Reber family.
The Arkansas judge on the case ordered Josh to wear a GPS ankle monitor.
Josh’s wife Anna, who is pregnant with their seventh child, is standing by her husband and has visited him with their children.
Josh has unlimited access to his children with Anna present.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network) at 800-656-HOPE (4673).
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