Judge Denies All But One Motion To Suppress Evidence In Josh Duggar Case

A federal judge has denied four out of five motions to suppress evidence after Josh Duggar’s attorneys made several attempts in vain to have his child porn case thrown out.

Duggar, 33, was arrested in April after an investigation conducted by Homeland Security allegedly unearthed images depicting sexual abuse against children on Duggar’s computer, as previously reported. Duggar pleaded not guilty to federal charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. 

Since then, defense attorney Justin Gelfand had filed several motions in an effort to have the charges against his client dismissed. In June, Duggar’s defense sought to move the trial into 2022, arguing they needed more time to examine the evidence found on Duggar’s computer. Last month, Gelfand filed a motion to compel in hopes of gleaning more information about the Arkansas officers who arrested Duggar. The defense later requested that the charges against Duggar be dropped on the grounds that former president Donald Trump had “unlawfully” appointed Homeland Security officials, who had then overseen the agency's investigation into Duggar. Earlier this month, Duggar’s attorney filed a motion to suppress photographs of his client’s hands, claiming the photos were taken without his counsel present, allegedly violating his constitutional rights.

A fifth motion to suppress evidence has yet to be ruled on.

Federal prosecutors had previously responded to Duggar’s motions, claiming they were nothing more than stall tactics and fishing expeditions.

“As with many cases based on undercover investigations of individuals sharing child sexual abuse material (‘CSAM’) over peer-to-peer networks, this case is straightforward,” prosecutors stated, according to Law & Crime. 

Duggar left the courthouse after Monday’s hearing with his wife, Anna, in tow, according to People. Anna Duggar is pregnant with the couple’s seventh child, having announced the news just days before her husband’s arrest.

“She’s standing by him,” a source told People. “She thinks Josh is innocent.”

At his bond hearing last May, Magistrate Judge Christy Comstock ruled that Duggar was not allowed back home upon his release, citing his six minor children, according to People. Duggar has since been under the guardianship of his two “close friends,” Lacount and Maria Reber. He is allowed to have visitation with his children, but only under Anna’s supervision.

Included in the alleged evidence against Duggar was a video depicting “two fully nude prepubescent females,” one of whom was sexually abused by an adult male, as previously reported. An additional zip file allegedly contained “approximately 65 image files of a prepubescent female, many of which are child pornography.”

At Duggar’s bond hearing, Homeland Security Special Agent Gerald Faulkner testified to a series allegedly found on Duggar’s computer which contained content depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as 18 months old, according to USA Today.

“All I can say in 11 years of doing this and the thousands and thousands of child pornography images and videos I’ve had unfortunately to see, the… series ranks in the top five of the worst of the worst that I’ve ever had to examine,” said Agent Faulkner, according to People.

Duggar previously starred in the TLC series ‘19 Kids and Counting’ until the network canceled the show in 2015 amid allegations that Duggar molested several underage girls, including his own sisters, according to ABC News.

Duggar’s trial is expected to begin on Nov. 30.