Josh Duggar blames his former colleague for his crimes in a new appeal filed in his child pornography case.
The disgraced “19 Kids and Counting” star filed an appeal Monday in an Arkansas court, alleging that government agents had not interviewed or investigated Caleb Williams, who is “regularly the only [computer] which contained child pornography, was tech savvy” and allegedly sent Duggar a text offer to “watch the fate.”
The documents, obtained by Vidak For Congress, also state that Williams, who worked with Duggar at Wholesale Motorcars, is a convicted sex offender.
Duggar, 34, claimed he and his team wanted to call Williams to the stands, but the federal court banned it.
“The government responded, ‘The only obvious reason the defense wants to call him is because he is a sex offender,'” the documents read.
A jury found the ex-TLC star guilty on one count in December 2021 of receiving and possessing child pornography. The jury reached its verdict after seven hours of deliberation after a six-day trial.
In May, Duggar was sentenced to 151 months in prison, which is between 12 and 13 years. The sentence is about eight years less than the twenty years he was given.
Several of Josh’s siblings supported his conviction and sentencing.
His sister Jinger Duggar praised the jury for their decision, writing in part in a lengthy statement on Instagram: “We are sad for the victims of horrific child abuse. We are also sad for Josh’s family, his wife and precious children.”
Josh was accused of downloading child porn files onto a computer at his now-closed used car dealership for three days in May 2019.
His wife, Anna Duggar, with whom he shares seven children, has remained by Josh’s side and has supported him through his trials and tribulations.
TLC canceled the Duggar family’s show in 2015 after first reports emerged that Josh allegedly abused five girls, including his sisters, when he was a minor. The network then canceled a spin-off, “Counting On,” after Josh was arrested for child pornography.