Josh Duggar’s lawyers are now saying the reality TV alum may not have molested five young girls as a teenager –– despite having confessed to it in 2015 –– after prosecutors asked to include the incident in his child pornography case. Duggar’s attorneys say because he was never charged or arrested for the situation, there’s no evidence to believe he committed the crime to establish the said precedence for his alleged “sexual interest in young girls.”
Duggar is weeks away from standing trial for two counts of possession of child pornography. He was arrested in April of this year and has been staying with family friends in Arkansas until the beginning of his trial, which is scheduled for Nov. 30.
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In 2015, a police report published showed that Josh’s father, Jim Bob Duggar, confessed to authorities that his son fondled the breasts and genitals of four of his sisters as well as a young babysitter while they were asleep in the parents’ home. Duggar later made a statement, confessing and apologizing for the act.
According to court documents obtained by The Sun, Duggar’s lawyers fought against the move by prosecutors by saying there’s no proof of the act. “There is no question the allegations at issue arise at a time when Duggar was a child and the allegations at issue in this case arise at a time when Duggar was in his 30’s,” the documents read. “Furthermore, there is no question Duggar was never charged with a crime related to those allegations.”
Duggar’s defense also claimed that it’s not explicit if the “uncharged allegations” actually constitute a crime under Arkansas law. “The Report is heavily redacted and, importantly, includes no names or dates of birth of anyone involved making it exceedingly difficult for anyone, much less this Court in ruling on the application of Rule 414, to determine whether Duggar actually committed the acts alleged in the Report and whether the conduct, if committed, constituted a crime, particularly in light of the affirmative defenses clearly set out in the statute,” the documents said, adding that the previous allegations could “mislead a jury” since they don’t pertain to the current case.
The state filed a request earlier this month to use the information in court. “Specifically, the government notices its intent to introduce evidence that in approximately 2002 and 2003… the defendant attempted to and did commit a crime as defined by Arkansas state law involving contact between any part of the defendant’s body and a child’s genitals or anus—namely, sexual assault in the second degree.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
