Following a week behind bars, Josh Duggar walked out of the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville, AR on Thurs. May 6. It came a day after a judge ordered him to be released, although under a long list of conditions and requirements. The 33-year-old has been in custody since his Apr. 29 arrest, where he was subsequently charged with possession of child pornography. In the first photos of Josh walking into the outdoor sunshine, he seemed to have grown a bit of a beard in the last seven days. Even though he was wearing a mask, there was much more visible facial hair than in his mugshot. You can see the photos and video here.
Josh could be seen wearing a long sleeve white and red plaid shirt with a University of Arkansas Razorbacks logo on the left chest pocket. The father of six wore blue jeans as he walked out of the detention center around 2:30pm local time, accompanied by his attorney Travis Story. He appeared to be smiling as his eyes had a happy expression, though he was peppered with questions about his child pornography charges by a local TV news reporter as Josh walked from the door of the facility to an awaiting vehicle.
While Josh is technically a free man, he will be living under tight restrictions. On May 5, Judge Christy Comstock ruled that the former 19 Kids and Counting star was to be released to the custody of “designated third party custodians,” Lacount and Maria Reber, who are close friends of the Duggar family. He will be under home confinement at their residence for the next two months, and required to wear a GPS ankle monitoring device. Josh also must report to a probation officer.
Although the judge did not think it was a good idea to release Josh to his own home with his pregnant wife Anna Duggar, 32, and their six minor children, he will still get unlimited access to the kids — ages 11 through one — as long as Anna is present at all times. He is prohibited from seeing any other minor children, even relatives. Josh is seen below with Anna and their six kids.
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Josh is not allowed to use the internet or have possession of any internet-capable devices such as computers, smartphones, gaming systems, or Smart TVs. He is also prohibited from viewing erotica at any time. In 2015, Josh admitted to having a serious porn addiction, where he ended up spending six months in a faith-based in-patient rehab facility. He also had to surrender his passport, and is forbidden from being in the possession of a firearm. If Josh ends up violating any of the judge’s rules, he could face an additional 10 years in prison depending on the outcome of his child pornography trial, which is scheduled to begin in July.
At Josh’s hearing on May 5, Homeland Security Department Special Agent Gerald Faulkner testified that in 2019, Josh allegedly had a computer at his car dealership office containing images in one file that depicted child sex abuse involving kids ranging from 18 months to 12 years. Faulkner called the images “in the top five of the worst of the worst that I’ve ever had to examine.” A federal probation officer later recommended to the court that Josh be kept in custody and not released from jail until his trial, but Judge Comstock ignored his advice and ordered Josh be freed from jail.