Thus, he moved to suppress the evidence found during the execution of the warrant — video files downloaded from the computer at his then place of business, a car sales lot.
However, the court found that a Franks hearing is “not warranted” and denied the motion to suppress, meaning the evidence is fair for the government to use at his upcoming Nov. 30 trial.
Josh Duggar in 2015.Kris Connor/Getty Images
The otherfour motions were deniedat a court hearing last month, which Duggar, 33, attended with his pregnant wife,Anna, who previously announced that she was expecting their seventh childthis fall.
The motions included a request 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.
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Prosecutors believe that Duggar hadmore than 200 explicit images of children on his computer. During a Mayhearing, Homeland Security agent Gerald Faulkner described the files allegedly found on Duggar’s device as within the “top five of the worst of the worst” that he has ever examined.
The agent said that Duggar downloaded torrent files that included “a series of child sexual abuse material involving minor children ranging from about 18 months of age to 12 years of age.”
Josh Duggar.Danny Johnston/AP/Shutterstock
If convicted of the charges against him, the former reality star 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.
Duggar previously faced scandal in 2015, when news broke that he 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 woes, TLC canceled the Duggar family’s reality series,Counting On. In their statement, the network said it felt it was “important to give the Duggar family the opportunity to address their situation privately.”
The show premiered on TLC in 2015 and served as a spinoff to19 Kids and Counting, which ran from 2008 to 2015.
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
