Josh Duggar released to home confinement ahead of July child-porn trial

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (TCD) --

Former reality TV star Josh Duggar was released on bail this week as he awaits his trial on federal child pornography charges.

U.S. Marshals arrested Josh Duggar, 33, on Thursday, April 29, 2021, on charges of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

He pleaded not guilty to those charges on Friday, April 30.

Duggar appeared via Zoom in front of Judge Christy Comstock. Comstock ordered Duggar to be held in home confinement at the residence of “family friends who have agreed to be his custodian during his release,” the Associated Press reports.

Duggar is prohibited from Internet-accessible devices. The judge also ordered Duggar not to be around any minors other than his own children. He’s ordered to only have contact with his own children with his wife present, the AP reports.

Duggar is also ordered to wear a location monitor, and cannot stay at a residence where firearms are stored, KFSM-TV reports.

Duggar was required to sign a surety bond, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. He was then released Thursday afternoon.

Duggar is scheduled for trial on July 6.

A federal Homeland Security agent testified Wednesday that pornographic images “depicting the sexual abuse of children, including toddlers” were downloaded in May 2019 by a computer at a car dealership Duggar owned, the Associated Press reports.

The images were among “top five of the worst of the worst that I’ve ever had to examine,” HSI Agent Gerald Faulkner said.

Josh Duggar once appeared on the show "19 Kids and Counting.” In 2015, Duggar was accused of molesting five underage girls when he was a teenager.

in April, Duggar and his wife announced they were expecting their seventh child.

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