Josh Duggar asks court to move child pornography trial to 2022
The former TLC star was indicted on federal child pornography charges on April 30
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former "19 Kids and Counting" star Josh Duggar has requested a federal court to move his child pornography trial from this July to next year, Fox News has learned.
In federal court records filed on Thursday, Duggar's legal team asks the court to "continue the trial in this case from the current setting of July 6, 2021."
"Specifically, Duggar requests that this Court set a trial date in this case in or after February 2022," the filing continues.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the docs, Duggar's attorneys spell out the reasoning for their continuance request.
JOSH DUGGAR RELEASED FROM JAIL AS HE AWAITS CHILD PORN TRIAL
Josh Dugger, former star of '19 Kids and Counting,' has been arrested in Arkansas for alleged possession of child pornography. (Washington County Police Department)
"This is a complex case arising out of a several-year federal investigation concerning allegations involving both the so-called ‘dark web’ and peer-to-peer BitTorrent file-sharing networks," the filing states. "Based on the discovery provided to date, the Government's allegations largely center on computer forensic evidence and anticipated expert opinion testimony. The defense has retained an independent computer forensic expert who must conduct a computer forensic examination of each of the devices at issue – a time consuming process that requires review at a government facility for the one device the Government alleges contained child pornography."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The defense team goes on to claim it needs more time to review "the remaining devices that the Government does not allege contained child pornography."
Duggar's attorneys anticipate it "may take several months" to review such evidence. The former reality star's legal team also argues that it is still waiting on additional discovery from the government "but has not received it" despite "multiple requests."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The filing goes on to claim that Duggar's legal team was caught off guard by a recent disclosure about the agencies involved in the investigation.
"Remarkably, the Government also recently disclosed – for the first time and only by way of a screenshot of an unidentified database – that the two other Arkansas state law enforcement agencies allegedly participated in this investigation at least in a minimal capacity. The search warrant applications make no reference to these agencies, the Special Agent's testimony at the detention hearing made no mention of these agencies, and the remainder of the discovery does not reveal which agencies participated an what, if anything, these agencies did," the filing states.
Anna Duggar and Josh Duggar share six kids together. She is also pregnant with their seventh child. (Kris Connor/Getty Images)
Duggar was arrested by U.S. Marshals on April 29 in Arkansas. One day later, he was indicted on federal child pornography charges and pleaded not guilty. He was granted release by a federal judge as he awaits a July trial.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Duggar starred on TLC’s "19 Kids and Counting" until it was pulled from the network in 2015 following revelations that he had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. His parents said he had confessed to the fondling and apologized.
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Duggar previously apologized for a pornography addiction and cheating on his wife, Anna. Josh and Anna Duggar have been married since 2008 and share six children with a seventh on the way.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It appears the government has not yet issued a response to Duggar's filing. A U.S. trial attorney in the case declined to comment.