In a virtual detention hearing Wednesday for the former reality star, a Department of Homeland Security agent testified that child pornography found on Josh Duggar’s computer was “in the top five of the worst of the worst that I’ve ever had to examine.”
Duggar was arrested by federal agents April 29 and is accused downloading child pornography in May, 2019. He is charged with one count of receiving child porn and one count of possession; Duggar denies the accusations and has pled not guilty. He was granted bail on Wednesday but with strict conditions.
People Magazine reported that during his bail hearing, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Gerald Faulkner also testified about the timeline of the investigation into Duggar, providing new, and highly disturbing details about the investigation against him.
Among the details Faulkner shared with the court: The child pornography was downloaded to Duggar’s IP address at his employer at the time, an auto dealership; one of the files contained depictions of sexual abuse against children as young as 18 months old; Duggar’s home computer contained monitoring software designed to track internet use by people with “porn addictions,” but the software was not able to detect activity on his workplace computer; when federal agents raided his business, Dugger said “What is this about? Has someone been downloading child pornography?; and when asked directly if he possessed child pornography, Duggar said “I’d rather not answer that question.”
Among the conditions of his bail agreement, Duggar will be given a GPS monitor, restricted to his residence at all times aside from legal or religious events, live with a third-party guardian, possess no electronics capable of accessing the internet, reporting regularly to a probation officer, avoid controlled substances and alcohol, and surrender his passport. He is also only allowed to see his children under his wife’s supervision. Violations of these conditions may result in additional years in prison should he be convicted.
