Judge Shuts Down Josh Duggar’s Bid to Dismiss Child Porn Charges
A judge handed 33-year-old former reality star Josh Duggar a defeat on Monday, denying his motion to have his child pornography charges dropped, his motion to suppress all statements he made to the FBI after he was served with a warrant, and his motion to suppress pictures of his hands and feet that were taken while he was in custody.
His attorneys have argued that any statements made to investigators were the result of his cellphone being seized before he could talk to a lawyer, as well as statements made to investigators after he was questioned without his lawyer present.
As far as what some of these statements might be, in April homeland security officials raided Duggar’s car dealership and asked to speak with him. Even prior to them telling him why they were there and what the nature of their warrant was, he “spontaneously” responded, “What is this about? Has someone been downloading child pornography?”
Josh was arrested and the prosecution alleges that Duggar downloaded more than 200 images on May 14, 15, and 16 of 2019, some of which were found deleted in the recycle bin. These vessels for Duggar’s alleged horrific masturbatory fantasies depicted child sex abuse involving children ranging from 18 months to 12 years of age, with Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Gerald Faulkner describing them as “in the top five of the worst of the worst that I’ve ever had to examine.”
The government issued a statement saying they were pleased with the motions to dismiss, as they contend Duggar was never officially placed in custody when the search warrant was executed, only detained, and as a detained man he freely chose to talk with law enforcement.
Duggar has pleaded not guilty and if convicted, could face 20 years in prison and $250,000 on each fine.
Duggar is out on bail with his trial slated to begin Nov. 30.
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