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As the Josh Duggar child pornography trial enters its second full day of testimony, many who have been watching the case are still trying make sense of Wednesday’s revelations.
The prosecution called two witnesses, both of them law enforcement officials who played crucial roles in the investigation into Josh’s alleged receipt and possession of illicit materials.
Detective Amber Kalmer of the Little Rock Police Department and Special Agent Gerald Faulkner of the Department of Homeland Security both outlined the process by which the materials were traced to an IP address and that IP address was linked to Josh.
During Special Agent Faulkner’s testimony, prosecutors played an audio recording of a conversation that was made on the day that the car dealership owned by Josh was raided by federal agents.
“I’m not going to say anything that’s going to incriminate me,” Josh can be heard telling the agents, according to a report from UK tabloid The Sun.
“I’m not denying guilt. I’m not saying if I am guilty or not,” he continued.
The comment is consistent with Josh’s attitude toward the agents throughout the raid.
The 33-year-old blithely remarked on the situation unfolding around him, clearly confident that he could do so without incriminating himself.
Josh may have felt that by interacting with the agents in this way, he was demonstrating that he had full command of the situation and nothing to fear.
Obviously, he failed to create the desired impression.
Josh was arrested on child pornography charges in April after investigators used the materials seized on the day of the raid to make a federal case against him.
And now, the comments that he made during the raid are being used against him by prosecutors.
At one point, Josh “guessed” the reason for the raid and asked the agents to confirm his suspicions.
“Mr. Duggar turned in his chair, facing me and Mr. Aycock, and asked, ‘Is this about someone downloading child pornography?'” Agenrt Faulkner recalled during his time on the witness stand.
Asked why he and his partner didn’t immediately reveal their reason for sweeping the property, Agent Faulkner revealed that it’s common practice in child porn cases not to state the reason for the search until necessary.
“The goal is to find devices with peer to peer and child pornography,” he testified.
“To put someone behind the computer when the crime’s committed.”
At one point, Josh was admitted that he was “familiar” with the sort of peer-to-peer file sharing network that led investigators to him, and he stated that he knew of something “like a Tor browser.”
Josh stated in the recording that he and his co-workers would upload “encrypted” photographs of cars and other materials, as it allowed them to do so more safely.
“I would not think the ‘Dark Web’ would be the best place to do that,” Agent Faulkner replied.
“I guess I better not say if I don’t understand … I don’t see any difference.”
On the witness stand, Agent Faulkner revealed that Josh gave away more information than he intended during their recorded conversation.
“We had no idea the Tor browser was used in this investigation. Tor makes it difficult to see the IP address,” Faulkner recalled.
“The dark web is a known source for child porn. Josh using Tor for car photos makes no sense,” he added.
“The dark web is anonymous. The dark web isn’t the best place to sell cars. I never thought to purchase a vehicle on the dark web.”
Josh’s trial is expected to last until at least tomorrow.
If he is convicted, the former reality star faces up to 20 years in prison.
We’ll have further updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.
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