'19 Kids And Counting' Star Heads to Trial for Child Pornography After Allegedly Molesting His Sisters
The famous Duggar family of “19 Kids and Counting” is making headlines again as Josh Duggar, the oldest child, is now on day four of a trial for child pornography.
Duggar, 33, is charged with two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography and has pleaded not guilty.
In May he was released on bail, but ENews reported that he is not allowed to live in the same place as his children, whose ages range from newborn to 11 years old.
Previously, in 2015, the media revealed that as a teenager he had inappropriately touched several young girls. Four of them were his sisters, and one was their babysitter, Fox News reported.
The Duggar parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, had in interview with Fox’s Megyn Kelly at the time and defended their son.
Jim Bob said Josh admitted he had “improperly touched some of our daughters,” according to ENews.
“He was just curious about girls, and he had gone in and touched them over their clothes while they were sleeping,” Jim Bob said.
In light of this scandal, TLC cancelled the Duggars’ second show, “Counting On.”
“TLC will not be producing additional seasons of ‘Counting On,’” the network told Fox News in a statement. “TLC feels it is important to give the Duggar family the opportunity to address their situation privately.”
Jinger Duggar Vuolo, 27, wrote a book with her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, addressing what she and the family went through during the scandal, ENews reported.
The Vuolo’s new book, “The Hope We Hold: Finding Peace in the Promises of God,” was published on May 4, 2021, mere days after Josh pled not guilty in federal court to possessing child pornography.
Without naming her brother Josh, Vuolo did write in her book, “One of my siblings had made some sinful choices, but it had all been years ago. It had been awful, but we had dealt with it as a family.”
Now, as Josh faces these charges and the trial has begun, more evidence is being revealed.
Forensic analysis in the trial shows that Josh Duggar downloaded videos of child sexual abuse, including one involving a three-month-old baby, a Department of Justice forensic investigator told an Arkansas court on Thursday, Insider reported.
The graphic videos were downloaded to his work computer at Wholesale Motorcars. Even one of the Department of Justice’s investigators was disturbed by the videos found.
“It’s one of the most offensive videos that I’m familiar with throughout my whole career,” said James Fottrell, director of the Department of Justice’s High Technology Investigative Unit, according to the New York Post.
If Duggar is found guilty, he will face up to 20 years in prison, according to the United States Sentencing Commission.
Sadly, this horrifying incident and scandal is a symptom of a culture-wide porn problem.
In 2018, Psychology Today reported that, based on a survey they conducted, 73 percent of women and 98 percent of men reported internet porn use in the last six months — a total of 85 percent of respondents.
There are many reports of how porn is very similar to drugs in both the ways that it is used and abused. And it’s becoming a very massive problem. Furthermore, porn is becoming more extreme since users build up a tolerance overtime.
Dr. Norman Doidge, a psychiatrist and New York Times best-selling author of “The Brain That Changes Itself,” explained how pornography keeps getting more extreme.
“Pornography satisfies every one of the prerequisites for neuroplastic change. When pornographers boast that they are pushing the envelope by introducing new, harder themes, what they don’t say is that they must because their customers are building up a tolerance to the content,” Doidge wrote.
Shame is also a massive fuel for porn addiction, causing these habits to build and become more extreme over time. That is what we may be seeing with Josh Duggar.
Sadly, this is the state of a culture driven by shame, pleasure and addiction.
Josh Duggar may be the one making headlines, but this is a huge problem that plagues many.
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