Josh Duggar was found guilty today (December 9, 2021) of possessing child sexual abuse images. His defense was absurd.
The trial was held in Fayetteville, Arkansas and Josh will be sentenced later. He’s facing up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.
What was Josh Duggar’s defense?
Basically, the argument for Josh Duggar’s innocence centers on a claim that someone hacked into his work computer to download and view the child sexual abuse images and videos the F.B.I. found there.
Digital forensics expert Michele Bush described the supposed hack as a “hit and run” digital encounter because the files were deleted. Of course, there are a lot of reasons why Josh would delete those files if he downloaded them himself. Even though the files were deleted, their remnants can still be traced because some information from deleted files is still saved on devices and can be accessed by police and the FBI in investigations like this.
Bush also said that a thumb drive was connected to Josh Duggar’s computer before Linux was installed, but the thumb drive in question has not been located.
The defense for Josh Duggar also argued that another employee could have been responsible for downloading and deleting the material. The problem with this is that Josh was the only employee at the company at the time the material was accessed.
Witness for the prosecution James Fottrell, who is the director of the Department of Justice’s High Technology Investigative Unit, testified that no evidence of child sexual abuse material was found on Josh Duggar’s personal laptop or cellphone. However, the HP computer at Wholesale Motors had a lot of this material.
The computer was split and a Linux operating system was installed alongside Windows operating system just days before the material showed up on the computer.
Part of Fottrell’s testimony explained that a person had to be physically present when switching between the two operating systems, it wasn’t something that could be done remotely. The Linux side, which contained the illicit images, had to be accessed with a password.
Read the full indictment against Josh Duggar, who's facing multiple child pornography charges, including possession of "images of minors under the age of 12." Plus, statements from Jim Bob and Michelle, Jinger Vuolo, & Josh's attorneys. #19KidsAndCounting https://t.co/SCvlr1OcoP pic.twitter.com/XYAIsACNzg
— Starcasm (@starcasm) May 1, 2021
