Josh Duggar Had Computer Program Installed To Report His Pornography Use To His Wife, Federal Agent Testifies

Recently jailed reality TV star Josh Duggar had software on his computer that tracked his internet usage and reported their findings to his wife, federal investigators revealed during a court hearing this week.

Duggar, 33, was arrested last Thursday for the alleged possession of child pornography, the culmination of a lengthy investigation into Duggar, who’d previously confessed in 2005 to molesting numerous minor girls, including some of his sisters, People reports. During a virtual hearing on Wednesday, a federal agent testified in the case against Duggar and revealed a number of things investigators discovered, including the presence of porn-tracking software on Duggar’s computer. The program in question, called Covenant Eyes, was described by the agent as “accountability software” and its website states that it was created to help those with porn addictions overcome them and remain accountable by collecting information on their internet usage and sharing that information with “chosen allies” in order to help them remain accountable.

Duggar’s account was registered to share reports regarding his internet activity with his wife Anna, the agent said, according to PEOPLE. However, because Duggar used a network that was password-protected, the program was not able to track Duggar’s internet usage and the child pornography for which Duggar was charged was allegedly found on a different part of his hard drive that was not accessible by Covenant Eyes, according to another People report.

Duggar has been charged with one count each of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography. The material found on Duggar’s hard drive showed child sex abuse with victims ranging in age from 18 months to 12 years old, Homeland Security agent Gerald Faulkner testified during Wednesday’s hearing, according to People. Also allegedly on Duggar’s hard drive was an explicit video of minor girls engaging in sexual activity with each other before being sexually assaulted by an adult male, according to Yahoo Entertainment.

Faulker described what was found on Duggar’s computer as being among “the worst of the worst.”

“And 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,” he said regarding one particular collection of images allegedly found on Duggar's hard drive.

Duggar pleaded not guilty to the charges and a judge ruled on Wednesday that he be released on bail on Thursday after his lawyers successfully argued that he is not a flight risk, according to the Yahoo Entertainment report. However, the judge stated that her decision, which she called a “very close call,” came with a number of caveats: he must submit to GPS monitoring and house arrest and must refrain from accessing any pornography or using the internet in any capacity, nor will he have any contact with any minors outside of supervised visits with his six children, the outlet reports.

Duggar’s house arrest also will not be served at his house or the houses of his family members. He will be staying with friends of his family, Lacount and Maria Reber, People reports.

Duggar is scheduled to return to court for his pre-trial conference on July 1, which will be followed by his actual trial on July 6, Yahoo Entertainment reports.

In a statement previously issued to Oxygen.com, Duggar’s lawyers, Justin Gelfand, Travis W. Story and Greg Payne, said that they intend to “fight back” against the charges.

“He has pled not guilty to both charges and we intend to defend this case aggressively and thoroughly,” that statement reads. “In this country, no one can stop prosecutors from charging a crime. But when you’re accused, you can fight back in the courtroom—and that is exactly what Josh intends to do.”

Duggar’s family rose to fame with the release of their reality show “19 Kids and Counting” in 2008. TLC cancelled the show in 2015 after news broke that Josh Duggar had molested numerous minors, including two of his sisters, as a teenager, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In his apology, Duggar said that his parents arranged counseling for himself and his victims and he confessed his actions to the police at the time; however, no charges were filed, the outlet reports.

Duggar was the subject of controversy yet again later that same year, after news broke that he had maintained an account on the website Ashley Madison, which is used for facilitating extramarital affairs. In his subsequent apology statement, Duggar admitted to cheating on his wife and having a secret addiction to pornography, and referred to himself as “the biggest hypocrite ever,” Variety reports.