Josh Duggar allegedly confessed to a close family friend he had molested young girls, that friend told jurors on Monday, day four of the child pornography trial of the former “19 Kids and Counting” conservative reality TV star.
“Fighting back tears, Bobye Holt testified about a 2003 conversation in which Duggar confessed to molesting multiple minor girls,” local Fayetteville, Arkansas Fox affiliate KNWA reports. Holt is “a close family friend that has known the Duggars since before Josh was born.”
“Holt described in detail how Duggar had told both sets of parents about touching girls, some as much as ten years younger than him, in their ‘private areas,’ under their ‘pantaloons and underwear.'”
Fox News adds that the “family friend alleged Josh’s parents Jim Bob and Michelle were also present during the conversation.”
Duggar is a former top executive at the activist arm of the Family Research Council, a far right wing anti-LGBTQ hate group. On trial now for receiving and possessing child pornography, he is accused of having in his computer images of children as young as 5 years old.
Earlier this year the website Radar had reported Homeland Security Special Agent Gerald Faulkner “claimed Josh had one two-minute video on his computer of two underage females and a male who performed sexual acts on the children.”
“Also found were 65 images of a female ‘consistent with child pornography.'”
“Josh used one of the programs [on his computer] to view porn including rape and child porn,” Radar also reported, citing Agent Faulkner.
“The agent mentioned how downloads from a specific file were made. The agent said the file ‘is in the top five worst I have ever had to examine,’ as the specific file has been known to include children as young as 18 months old. The agent did not say if Josh downloaded the photos involving an 18 month old.”