Homeland Security agent takes the stand in Josh Duggar trial: LIVE UPDATES
Josh Duggar, who appeared in TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” was charged in April with two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography. His trial started on Wednesday. Duggar has pleaded not guilty in the case and his attorneys have said they plan to defend his case “aggressively and thoroughly.”
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Prosecutors questioned a forensic analyst who shot down any defense arguments that alleged images of minors deemed sexually suggestive could have appeared on Josh Duggar's personal computer through hacking or someone remotely.
Court is adjourned for Thursday and will resume at 8:30 a.m. local time as prosecutors are expected to continue their line of questioning.
James Fottrell, the Director of the Department of Justice for Child Exploitation took the stand on Thursday and spoke to the extent the Tor dark web browser Duggar allegedly used to cover his tracks could be used to surf the web anonymously, according to The Sun.
During testimony, Fottrell explained that in order for Linux to be installed on any computer, someone must physically initiate the action and must physically be present at device boot-up.
The court was then shown a cache folder for Tor which included recently used downloads and a Linux partition revealed Duggar’s name and address.
The court was then shown thumbnail files of folders where alleged images of minors deemed sexually suggestive had been kept.
Photos of the graphic child abuse images were shown to the jury and described by James Fottrell.
He said the photos were popular traded images of child sexual abuse material.
Additional insight was heard from Marshall Kennedy, a computer forensic analyst (CFA) with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), who was the sixth prosecutorial witness called to the stand.
Kennedy, who also serves on the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, explained the process that CFAs use to make “forensic images” of seized devices, which allows them to view the contents of electronics in a read-only mode that prevents the possibility of data corruption or deletion, according to FOX24.
He acknowledged that investigators did not locate any incriminating evidence on Duggar’s personal iPhone or MacBook Pro laptop.
However, investigators previously maintained that Duggar used his work computer at the family’s used car dealership to allegedly download the explicit material.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Agent Gerald Faulkner took the stand on Thursday morning in Josh Duggar’s child pornography trial.
The 33-year-old father of seven is facing two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography. Back in May, a federal Homeland Security agent testified that pornographic images depicting the sexual abuse of children, including toddlers, had been downloaded in May 2019 by a computer at a car dealership that Duggar owned.
A KNWA reporter in the courtroom said on Twitter that Faulkner was questioned about why some cell phones were taken as evidence and not others. The defense questioned Faulkner about an employee named Caleb Williams, whose job Faulkner said wasn’t looked into because he was allegedly in another state at the time of the alleged crimes, The Sun reports. Faulkner added that he did not explore the possibility of remote access, per the outlet.
When the prosecution questioned Faulkner, the agent reportedly said if there was evidence of hacking or of Williams being at the location, it would have been investigated. He claimed agents did not have a legal cause to search the employee’s phone.
Jill Dillard debuted her new blonde hair amid her brother's child pornography trial. (D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra)
Jill Dillard debuted a massive change to her appearance this week as her brother Josh Duggar's child pornography trial continues in court.
On Wednesday, Dillard, 30, took to Instagram to show off her recent trip to the hair salon in which she went from a brunette to a blonde. In her post, she shows her arrival to the salon as a brunette and the steps of her transformation to a blonde, ultimately debuting the new look in the same video.
In the caption, Dillard thanks her stylist and asks her followers to give her some hair care tips for her new, lighter color.
Dillard and Jedidiah Duggar were named by the judge as "potential or confirmed" witnesses who could take the stand during their brother's trial, reports said. If they do appear, it’s unclear if they will be called on behalf of the prosecution or the defense.
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Josh Duggar was joined by his wife as he made his way into court again on Thursday as his child pornography trial continues in Arkansas.
A video shared by a local reporter on Twitter shows Josh and Anna Duggar heading into the John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building ahead of the 8:30 hearing. They were joined by Josh's team of attorneys. On Wednesday, two of Josh’s brothers-in-law were spotted in attendance.
Derick Dillard, who is the husband of Josh’s sister Jill, was in court sitting next to Anna, according to reports. Meanwhile, Austin Forsyth, who is married to Josh’s sister Joy-Anna, was spotted sitting in the back row, according to The Sun.
Jill and Jedidiah Duggar were included on the judge's list of “potential or confirmed” witnesses, reports said earlier this week. It is unclear if Jill and Jedidiah will definitely take the stand and whether their appearances will be for the prosecution or the defense.
The second day of Josh Duggar’s child pornography trial consisted of audio being played from his 2019 interview with agents who arrived at his car lot, Wholesale Motorcars.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agents Howard Aycock and Gerald Faulkner interviewed Duggar on Nov. 8, 2019 for 51 minutes as other agents searched the property, People reports.
Duggar waived his Miranda rights. According to the audio, the outlet reports that Duggar discussed with the agents the devices he used at work were also used for personal reasons. His kids and wife Anna had access to his phone and laptop. He also said “the guys at work here are the ones” that use the desktop computer at the business, according to the report.
Duggar reportedly mentioned a "Tor browser" when discussing torrenting, which has been described as a peer-to-peer network. Prosecutors noted the browser has ties to illegal practices like masking Internet activity. Duggar, however, informed agents it was used to upload photos for his business, and that a friend recommended he download it. Agents questioned if he meant “torrent,” to which Duggar said, “I guess I better not say if I don’t understand…I don’t see any difference.”
After detectives informed the former “19 Kids and Counting” star their arrival was to investigate child exploitation, Duggar asked, “So is this what you’re saying is going on? What is the scope?” and added, “Is something going on on my devices?”
The defense team has argued that the detectives’ work was delayed. Detective Amber Kalmer, who also took the stand on Wednesday, was reportedly the first to locate a device with an IP address registered under Duggar’s name at the car lot he runs was caught sharing child sex abuse material, and it happened six months before HSI agents surveyed Duggar’s business. The trial will resume on Thursday with cross-examination by the defense.
Jurors in former reality TV star Josh Duggar’s trial on child pornography charges can hear evidence that he admitted to molesting four girls nearly 20 years ago, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks rejected a motion by Duggar’s attorneys to prevent the evidence from being heard as his child pornography trial began.
Duggar's child pornography hearing kicked off on Wednesday with an opening statement from prosecutors.
"You're going to see images of children, some as young as seven. These children are being sexually assaulted, violated, and exploited," the prosecution said aloud, according to a Sun reporter in court.
"We ask that you hold him accountable," the prosecution continued after speaking of the charges the former television star is facing. Duggar has pleaded not guilty to two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography. - Melissa Roberto and the Associated Press contributed to this report
The prosecution showed the jury images of child pornography found on a computer inside Josh Duggar's dealership during the trial.
The images depicted children of different ages, some as young as seven-years-old, according to local outlet 5 News Online.
The prosecution claimed the images were found by agents on a computer at Duggar's car dealership.
The defense questioned how agents were able to track the IP addresses, the outlet reported.
Duggar's defense claimed in court that the images were not downloaded by him.
Wednesday's court session ended as the defense questioned a special agent. His issuance of a search warrant led to the confiscation of two computers and Duggar's cell phone, according to 5 News Online.
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