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The prosecution has rested its case in the Josh Duggar’s child pornography trial.
But not before calling to the stand a witness who swore to have first-hand knowledge of the former reality star’s very sordid and illegal history of molestation.
On Monday, Bobye Holt placed her hand on a bible, vowed to tell the truth — and then detailed exactly how and when she learned that Josh Duggar had molested a toddler when he was approximately 12 years old.
Hoyt explained to the jury that she and her husband were very close to the Duggars for more than three decades.
Back in November 2002, she said her then-14-year old daughter was in a “formal” relationship with Josh and that the couple was likely going to get engaged.
However, “on March 23, 2003, Mr. Duggar asked us to come over for an important matter,” she testified of Jim Bob, setting the scene for those inside the courtroom by adding:
“They took us to their bedroom. Josh was on the floor.”
According to The Sun, who had a reporter at the scene, Holt said Josh “confessed to molesting a five-year-old girl” and “touching her inappropriately” during this meeting over 18 years ago.
Just like she did at a pre-trial heating, Holt went on to state that Josh said back then that he groped this child under her shirt and under her pants while she sat on his lap.
Reading the bible.
Holt broke down in tears while describing what Josh told her had transpired.
“Josh went to a facility for troubled youth. I still love Josh,” she said while crying, adding that being on the stand for this purpose was simply “miserable.”
Bobye also claimed Josh continued to visit her family in Little Rock, Arkansas even after this confession — and, in 2005, he divulged more details to her of the molestation of the five-year old
Asked under cross-examination how she could so vividly recall a conversation from such a long time ago, Holt replied:
“You don’t forget something like that. It completely impacted our families.”
The public, of course, has known since 2015 about Duggar’s molestation scandal.
In Touch Weekly broke the bombshell at the time, prompting Josh to issue a lengthy statement and beg for forgiveness.
Prior to going on trial, his legal team had tried to argue that this scandal should not get mentioned in front of the jury because, they believed, it had no impact on the case at hand.
The judge, however, ruled against them last week, decreeing that Josh having inappropriately touched young girls many years ago is quite pertinent to his alleged downloading of sexually graphic videos in May 2019.
Bobye Holt was the final witness for the prosecution.
On Monday afternoon, the defense called its first witness to the stand.
Michelle Bush, an Arizona-based digital forensics expert, told the jury that she closely examined Josh’s laptop and found no evidence that any child pornography had ever been downloaded to it.
Duggar, though, is accused of downloading this material on to his work computer.
The former TLC star was charged in April 2021 with two counts of downloading and possessing child pornography, although he has pleaded not guilty.
The father of seven faces up to 40 years in prison if found guilty.
By most account, the trial is expected to wrap up early this week, which means we may have a verdict by Friday.
Hold on tight, readers.
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