A judge has denied four out of five ofJosh Duggar’s motions to suppress evidence and get his child pornography case dismissed amid his ongoing legal woes.
Duggar, 33, has been charged with receiving and possessing child sex abuse material. Hepleaded not guiltyto the charges following his April arrest and wasreleasedpending hisNov. 30 trial.
The defense’s requests included a motion to suppress statements Duggar allegedly made to federal agents during the course of their investigation, a motion todismiss the case entirelyon claims that investigators failed to “preserve potentially exculpatory evidence,” a motion to suppressphotographs of Duggar’s hands and feettaken while he was in custody, and a motion to dismiss Duggar’s indictment because of technicalities over who was running the Department of Homeland Security at the time of their investigation.
Lawyers for Duggar did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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“She thinks Josh is innocent,” the insider said in May, adding, “[Josh] has seen [his] children with Anna there. She has to be there.”
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The defense has also successfullydelayedthe upcoming criminal trial, which was initially set to begin in early July. It was postponed in June to Nov. 30 after the defense said it needed more time to forensically analyze all of the electronic devices involved in the investigation.
If convicted, Duggar faces up to 20 years of imprisonment and up to $250,000 in fines on each of the two counts fora total possible sentence of 40 years, according to an April press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Arkansas.
Josh Duggar.Kris Connor/Getty
The reality star, who prosecutors believe hadmore than 200 images of children on his computer, is no stranger to scandal.
In 2015, news broke that Duggar had allegedlymolested five underage girlsas a teenager. Two of his sisters,Jill (Duggar) Dillard, now 30, andJessa (Duggar) Seewald, now 28, latercame forwardas two of the victims.
Amid his current legal troubles, TLCcanceledthe Duggar family’s show,Counting On, which was created as a spinoff series to19 Kids and Countingamid the previous molestation controversy surrounding Duggar. In their statement, the network said it “feels it is important to give the Duggar family the opportunity to address their situation privately.”
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 connected to a certified crisis counselor.
source: people.com
