Josh Duggar begged cops to seal child pornography case because he feared public fallout would be ‘horrendous’ for him
JOSH Duggar begged cops to seal the child pornography investigation against him because he feared public fallout from the scandal would be “horrendous” for him.
Josh, 33, was arrested and charged with possessing and receiving child pornography in April 2021, and was found guilty on both counts in December.
The Sun can exclusively reveal in an unsealed court transcript from a September 27, 2021 hearing that Josh begged authorities to keep the child pornography case under wraps.
In the transcript obtained by The Sun, the court played audio at the hearing from an interview two Homeland Security agents had with Josh during the raid at his used car lot, Wholesale Motorcars, in November 2019.
Josh asked one of the agents: “And I guess what is the process from here as far as, is this a sealed — I guess is this a sealed case? Or what is the deal?”
One of the agents responded: “Yes. As it stands right now, this is.”
Josh replied: “So how does that work as far as disclosure of this? Because just for me, if this is disclosed, I mean, it’s going to be substantial.
“Because I would really — I mean, can my attorney move for a motion to keep it sealed? I mean I don’t — even at some point — like, the thing is, even just the allegation for me is just horrendous.”
The agent responded: “Absolutely.”
The charges became public after Josh was arrested in April 2021.
The family’s reality show, Counting On, was canceled just days after the arrest.
DRAMATIC TRIAL
The highly-publicized jury trial lasted two weeks before the jury submitted a guilty verdict on both counts.
At trial, prosecutors presented damning evidence from Josh’s HP computer, which they argued had a password-protected Linux partition to split the computer and access the dark web
It was revealed that one file name found on his HP desktop computer was of a video of a “3-month-old being sexually abused.”
One folder contained 65 thumbnail files of an underage girl.
The jury was shown the images and videos prosecutors claim were found on his computer.
Prosecutor William Clayman provided alleged texts and photos were taken on Josh’s phone at the car lot to show he was there at the same time child pornography content was downloaded at Wholesale Motorcars.
When the verdict was read, Josh was immediately handcuffed and taken into custody at Washington County Jail, where he was placed in solitary confinement away from other prisoners for his safety until his sentencing.
He faces 20 years in prison for each of the two counts.
JOSH’S SECOND CHANCE?
The Sun previously reported Josh’s legal team filed a motion for an acquittal of the guilty verdict.
In the alternative, the court papers also request a new trial.
If both are denied by the court, his legal team is asking to dismiss count 2, which is the possession of child pornography charge.
The Government has until later this week to respond to the request.
Josh shares seven children with his wife Anna, who is standing by her husband’s side.
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