December 6 marked the fourth day of Josh Duggar's federal trial. The trial of the former 19 Kids and Counting star is expected to wrap up this week. It has been filled with difficult moments. On the day where the prosecution concluded its arguments and his defense started, it was no exception.
A particularly difficult moment came during the testimony of Bobye Holt, wife of Jim Holt and family friend of the Duggars. The Holts' daughter was Josh's first girlfriend, with the close family friends hoping the relationship would result in a marriage. Instead, the Holts were brought in to help handle matters when Josh allegedly confessed to molesting young girls in the family home.
"We have been friends with the Duggars for 36 years," Bobye told the court, per The Sun. "Our children were best friends."
"Our oldest was Josh's girlfriend in November of 2002. It was formal. They were 14," Bobye explained.
"On March 23, 2003, Mr. Duggar asked us to come over for an important matter. They took us to their bedroom. Josh was on the floor."
Bobye went on to discuss Josh confessing to reportedly molesting four of his sisters. In this 2003 confession, a 15-year-old Josh allegedly admitted to molesting the four on and off since he was 12 years old. The youngest of the four victims was 5 years old.
During the testimony, two of Duggars sisters who were alleged victims were in the court room, Jessa Seewald and Joy-Anna Forsyth, who was accompanied by her husband Austin. Derrick Dillard, the husband of Jill Dillard, was also present. Jill has spoken out about her distance from her family and the trauma she's experienced after openly identifying herself as one of Josh's victims.
Though the courtship between the Holts' daughter and Josh was called off. "He told us so our oldest daughter would know why the relationship had to end," Bobye said during her testimony.
"Josh went to a facility for troubled youth."
The families stayed close, however, which is what led Josh to further elaborate on the incidents he confessed to them in 2003 in a conversation in 2005. Victims were addressed in court as Jane Doe 1-4 and not named. Bobye expressed her displeasure at having to testify against Josh in this manner.
"Being here is miserable," she said, noting she "still loves" Josh.
The information regarding Josh's alleged prior incidents of sexual assault on minors is being used by the prosecution to prove a pattern of "sexual interest in young girls." The defense slammed this as "extremely and unfairly prejudicial," asking the judge not to allow it. The judge sided with the prosecution on the matter.
After the prosecution concluded its arguments, the defense called Michele Bush, a digital forensics expert who discussed the Linux partion, which allowed Duggar to section off part of his computer for accessing and downloading the alleged legal materials without the average user being able to detect it. The prosecution previously noted the password to the partion was Intel1998, the same password used for Josh's internet banking and the Duggar family Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Josh's defense has argued that he doesn't have the IT knowledge to make such sophisticated maneuvers. They've pointed to other employees at the car lot as possibly responsible. The digital forensics expert argued that a remote user could have accessed the computer and downloaded the files to it without being physically present in the car lot where the computer was located. This is despite a government expert's previous testimony that such access would not be possible.
The digital forensics expert also testified that while a number of child sex abuse materials were downloaded, not all of them were accessed or viewed. She noted particularly that the piece of CSAM talked about in the media which featured an infant was not accessed after it was downloaded, though certain other CSAM items were downloaded and accessed.
As the trial moves into its fifth day, the defense will continue to explore possibilities for how others could have remotely accessed the Linux parition and downloaded the CSAM onto the computer. The closed trial makes it hard to get a read on the jury's feelings, as Josh's fate will soon be in their hands. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
