Photos, data put Duggar near computer when child porn was downloaded, expert testifies

Josh Duggar
Josh Duggar

FAYETTEVILLE -- Josh Duggar was at his used car lot every time child pornography was downloaded or viewed on a desktop computer at the business, prosecutors told jurors Friday.

Duggar, 33, of Springdale, is charged in federal court with two counts involving receiving and possessing child pornography. He faces up to 20 years of imprisonment and fines up to $250,000 on each count if convicted.

GPS data and time stamps on photos, the photos themselves and text messages were compared with logs of the child pornography by computer forensic analysts to reach their conclusion, according to testimony Friday from James Follett. Follett heads up a computer crime forensic analysis unit at Homeland Security Investigations in Washington, D.C.

The same type of data put Duggar at the car lot when a car payment receipt was created, Follett said. That receipt was found on a hidden computer partition also used to download child pornography. At the bottom, the receipt said the sales agent for the transaction was "Josh."

Duggar was also present at the car lot when a computer partition and operating system later used to download pornography was installed, according to Follett's testimony.

Follett testified he found the password for the computer operating system that was used to download child pornography was a version of passwords Duggar had used on other electronic devices for at least five years prior.

Duggar, best known for being part of his family's cable television reality show, is accused of using the internet in May 2019 to download and possess the material, some of which depicts the sexual abuse of children younger than 12, according to court documents.


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