The defense rested in the Arkansas federal trial of Josh Duggar, a former reality TV start who was charged with receiving and possesssion of child pornography. During the federal trial on Tuesday, a prosecutor sharply questioned a computer expert during the state's cross-examination. Duggar's trial began last week.
According to ABC News, the 33 year old "19 Kids and Counting" star faces up to 20 years in prison for each count if he is convicted of his crimes. On Monday, the prosecution rested its case and Duggar's attorneys called upon witnesses to testify.
A forensic computer analyst by the name of Michele Bush was questioned by Duggar's attorneys. She admitted that the former reality TV star's computer where child pornography was downloaded may have been accessed remotely. In defense of Duggar, attorneys claimed that it was someone else who downloaded child pornography onto his office computer at his workplace. They noted that there was no child pornography found on Duggar's phone or laptop.
The Roys Report, however, reported that federal prosecutors presented detailed logs showing the activity on Duggar's computer minute by minute. the logs showed that Duggar, who used the computer at the time, alternated between sending personal messages, downloading child pornography, and saving photos of notes.
Justice Department computer expert James Fottrell on Thursday testified that a Linux open-source operating system and a browser with encryption capabilities were installed behind a partition on the used-car dealership's desktop computer.
The partition enables the computer's hard drive to have two sides, a "public-facing side that was business-related and included the tracking program" and a "secret second side that used Linux and the browser." This enabled users to "evade an accountability program installed to report to Duggar's wife about inappropriate internet activity, such as searching for pornography."
Fottrell addmitted that sexually explicit photos and videos of children were found on the "secret second side" of the computer. Moreover, Fottrell presented details from a backup of Duggar's iPhone, which was made on a MacBook Pro laptop, which placed the phone at the car lot on the precise dates and times that child pornography was downloaded, accessed, and shared on the dealership's desktop computer.
James Follett, a Homeland Security senior crime forensic analyst, testified on Friday that a car receipt that read "Josh" as the sales agent was also found behind the partition where the child pornography was downloaded. Additionally, the password used on the hidden section was a variation on several other passwords that Duggar had used on his other devices for at least five years.
The new developments came after a Duggar family friend testified that the former reality TV star admitted to molesting four young girls in 2003. Revelations of Duggar's molestation of his own sisters and babysitter caused TLC to cancel "19 Kid and Counting" in 2015. "Counting On," which follows Josh Duggar's family, was also discontinued.
Duggar's parents admitted that their son confessed to fondling his victims and apologized. Jurors may hear details of the sexual abuse in the child pornography trial, as per U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks's ruling this week.
