Josh Duggar granted request to ban his past confession he was addicted to porn from trial
JOSH Duggar has been granted his request to ban his past confession that he was addicted to adult porn from his child pornography trial.
Josh, 33, is getting ready for trial on November 30 for child pornography charges from his April 2021 arrest.
The former 19 Kids and Counting star filed a series of requests to ban specific information from his upcoming trial, including his 2015 admission that he is addicted to adult porn.
The Sun can exclusively reveal an Arkansas judge sided with Josh and banned the confession from the upcoming trial.
In 2015, Josh released in a statement: “I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this has become an addiction.”
Court papers obtained by The Sun read that the Government planned to use the statement at trial because it allegedly “tends to show his motive, intent, knowledge, or plan to commit the crimes charged.”
Josh’s addiction to adult porn is the reason program Covenant Eyes was installed on his computer so the X-rated content would be detected if viewed, according to the court papers.
The child sex abuse material was allegedly found on his HP desktop hard drive at work that could not be detected by Covenant Eyes.
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The argument continued: “Therefore, in the Government’s estimation, Defendant’s admission that he was addicted to adult pornography is a necessary piece of evidence in a chain of events that prove his ‘motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, [or] plan’ to download child pornography on the HP desktop at work.”
In Josh’s request, he asked the court to ban the adult porn addiction and his adultery scandal, as they are “irrelevant” to the charged crime.
Josh, who pleaded not guilty to the two child pornography counts, admitted to using adultery website Ashley Madison while married to wife Anna.
The documents continued: "Further, [Josh] contends that if this evidence were disclosed to the jury, the result would be more prejudicial than probative.
"Since some jurors who are morally offended by adult pornography may jump to the conclusion that Defendant must have committed some sort of crime, while other jurors might assume that a person who is addicted to viewing adult pornography is more likely to be interested in viewing child pornography.”
The court agreed with Josh that the porn addiction is “irrelevant” and could “mislead” the jury, as it has been ordered that the confession is banned from trial.
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Josh also requested to have a statement made by Special Agent Faulkner from the bond hearing be banned at trial.
The statement was that one of the child pornography videos found was “in the top five of the worst-worst that I’ve ever had to examine.”
Josh’s legal team claimed in their motion: “Special Agent Faulkner’s subjective opinion that some alleged child pornography is apparently worse than other alleged child pornography is completely irrelevant, unfairly prejudicial, and constitutes improper opinion testimony.”
The opinion will “mislead the jury” and “needlessly waste time," the defense team claimed.
The judge agreed and sided with Josh.
The judge also denied the Government’s request to ban Josh’s reasonable doubt argument that one of his three workers had access to the computer and could’ve viewed the illegal material.
PAST BACK TO HAUNT HIM?
The court has yet to decide on if the Government can bring up his past molestation scandal, which he was never charged for, at the trial and asked the court for permission, as it shows his alleged “sexual interest in young girls.”
In 2015, a police report was published that revealed his father, Jim Bob Duggar, confessed to local authorities that Josh fondled the breasts and genitals of five young girls while they were asleep in the family home back in 2006.
In Josh’s response to the request, his legal team claimed he may have not committed the molestation.
The court papers obtained by The Sun claim: “There is no question the allegations at issue arise at a time when Duggar was a child and the allegations at issue in this case arise at a time when Duggar was in his 30’s.
“Furthermore, there is no question Duggar was never charged with a crime related to those allegations.”
The defense then claimed that it is “unclear” if the “uncharged allegations actually constitute a crime" of sexual assault in the second degree "under Arkansas state law.”
The court papers continued: “The Report is heavily redacted and, importantly, includes no names or dates of birth of anyone involved making it exceedingly difficult for anyone, much less this Court in ruling on the application of Rule 414, to determine whether Duggar actually committed the acts alleged in the Report and whether the conduct, if committed, constituted a crime, particularly in light of the affirmative defenses clearly set out in the statute.”
The documents claim the “ancient allegations” are “completely irrelevant” to the child pornography case and will “mislead” the jury.
MOLESTATION SCANDAL
In 2015, InTouch Weekly uncovered a 33-page Arkansas police report.
His younger sisters Jill, 29, and Jessa, 28, came forward as two of the victims in an interview with Megyn Kelly, where they insisted they had forgiven Josh, who was never charged, for his sins.
Josh admitted the molestation in a statement at the time on his Facebook page.
He said: “Twelve years ago, as a young teenager I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends.
“I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation. We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling.”
AWAITING TRIAL
The former star is currently on home confinement until his trial and is living with third party custodians LaCount and Maria Reber, who are longtime friends of Jim Bob and Michelle.
The Arkansas judge on the case ordered Josh to wear a GPS ankle monitor.
Josh’s wife Anna is standing by her husband.
She gave birth to their seventh child, daughter Madyson, in October.
Josh has unlimited access to his children with Anna present.
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The family’s reality show , which Josh has not appeared on, was canceled in light of the scandal.
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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