Jim Bob Duggar ‘welcomed friend Caleb Williams to home with kids’ AFTER his arrest for ‘sexually abusing underage girl’
JIM Bob Duggar welcomed family friend Caleb Williams to his Arkansas home where his children live AFTER the pal’s arrest for “sexually abusing an underage girl,” according to court papers.
Caleb, 27, was arrested for criminal sex abuse in November 2018 after he was accused of sexually abusing a minor on or between May 2015 through May 2018.
The Duggar family friend pleaded guilty to the first count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse after negotiating a plea agreement, while he was not prosecuted for the second count.
He was sentenced to 62 days in jail and 18 months probation during a court hearing on January 22, 2020, and is currently listed on the National Sex Offender and Illinois Sex Offender registries.
Caleb was involved in Josh Duggar’s child pornography trial, as he helped out at Wholesale Motorcars, where the sex abuse material was downloaded on an HP desktop computer in 2019.
The Sun can exclusively reveal Caleb remained close to the Duggar family, as he even visited the family home in May 2019, over a year after his arrest.
The shocking claim was made in court papers filed on January 19 in Josh’s motion for a new trial.
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An email was submitted from Caleb to Prosecutor William Clayman dated November 24, 2021.
In the email, Caleb admitted to being “mistaken” about not being in Arkansas from May 8, 2019 to May 11, 2019.
The linux partition, which split the HP computer in half to allow anonymous access to the dark web, was downloaded on May 11, just days before the child pornography photos and videos were downloaded.
While he didn’t know what days he went to the lot, or if he did at all, he apologized for the “mistake” and added that he “had no intention to mislead Prosecutors.”
Caleb then gave his whereabouts in those days, admitting he “visited the Duggar’s house.”
The underage children living in the Duggar home at that time were James, now 21, Justin, now 20, Jackson, now 17, Johannah, now 16, Jennifer, now 14, Jordyn, now 13, and Josie, now 12.
Caleb also remained close to Jim Bob and Michelle’s adult sons Josiah, Jed and Joseph.
Caleb wrote an email to prosecution: “At some point several of the Duggar guys asked me to run the back ends of some of their social media to help them sell cars. Jed, Josiah, and Joseph I do believe. I still have access to Jed’s fake account and Josiah’s account.”
He also provided text messages to prove the exchanges.
CALEB’S LEGAL WOES
Caleb, who was once rumored to be courting Jim Bob and Michelle’s oldest daughter Jana, 31, was 23 years old at the time of the crime, as his victim was just 16.
The victim’s mother filed an emergency order of protection in July 2018 after learning her daughter was pregnant with his child.
Then in 2020, Caleb requested partial custody of the child conceived with the underage victim.
The custody case remains ongoing.
Caleb resided near the Duggar compound in Arkansas and was often photographed with family members at various events before the arrest.
JOSH DEMANDS ACQUITTAL
As for Josh, The Sun previously reported his 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.
Josh, 33, was found guilty of possessing and receiving child pornography on December 9 after a nearly two-week trial.
The court papers claim regarding an acquittal that the Government “failed to adduce any evidence that Duggar ‘knew that the visual depictions were of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct’—a necessary element for conviction of each count.
“The evidence at trial established that certain files allegedly found on the HP desktop computer were never viewed by any user of the computer and that all the files at issue had been deleted shortly after being downloaded.
“The jury had no evidence that Duggar personally viewed any specific portion of any of the files allegedly found on the computer.”
NEW TRIAL REQUEST
In regards to a potential new trial, Josh’s legal team argued the Government failed to timely present exculpatory evidence, which can create reasonable doubt for the defendant, and that they were unable to call Wholesale Motorcars worker Caleb.
The documents claimed Caleb had access to the car lot and desktop computer, where the child pornography was downloaded, at “relevant time periods” and that law enforcement “failed to meaningfully investigate the possibility that anyone other than Duggar may have committed the crimes charged.”
The team claimed Caleb regularly used the computer in the month and weeks leading up to the May 2019, when photos and videos of child sex abuse materials were downloaded.
The documents claim the Government “disregarded” this evidence.
They claimed Caleb contacted the Government on multiple occasions in advance of the trial.
He allegedly wrote to prosecutor William Clayman: “I was completely mistaken about not being at the Wholesale Motorcars lot during the time I was in Arkansas (AR) between May 8, 2019 – May 11, 2019. I do not know if I was on the lot computer or even if I ended up going there.
“It looks like during my time there, I did odd work for the guys and maybe even Josh Duggar. In the messages between Josh Duggar and I, while I was in AR, as attached in one of these screenshots I am providing, I tell Josh I was planning to come to the lot a couple of days. I apologize for the mistake; I had no intention to mislead you all.”
He claimed he may have been there May 11, 2019, the date the Linux partition was downloaded.
Josh’s legal team describes this information as “critical,” as the Government tried to prove at trial that only Josh had the password to the partition.
They claimed prosecutors “hid the ball from the defense” and waited five days to to present the evidence.
The court papers read: “Had the defense possessed this information when it became available, it would have meaningfully affected trial strategy and provided additional fodder for cross examination of Government witnesses.”
VOW TO FIGHT BACK
Josh’s lawyer said in a press conference on December 9 after the guilty verdict: “We respect the jury’s verdict and we look forward to continuing this on appeal. We plan to appeal at the appropriate time.”
Josh faces 20 years in prison for each of the two counts.
The father of seven was arrested and charged with possessing and receiving child pornography in April 2021.
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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