Former Duggar family friend Bobye Holt, who served as a trial witness in Josh Duggar’s child pornography case, spoke out after Josh was found guilty on Thursday, December 9.
“Proud of you for speaking up for the girls. Finally, someone from their world spoke up. Thank you for being their voice in court,” one social media user wrote to Holt via Facebook, to which she replied, “Unfortunately, we’ve been screaming this from the mountain tops for 18+ years but no one would believe us.”
Earlier this week, Holt described hearing Josh confess to molesting four of his sisters in 2003. During her time on the stand, she recalled being asked to come over to the Duggar household for an “emergency meeting” in March of that year, at which time Josh was 15 years old and dating Holt’s daughter. Holt was informed that Josh had been inappropriately touching some of his siblings “since he was 12,” telling jurors that her daughter’s courtship with Josh was immediately “called off.”
“Josh went to a facility for troubled youth,” she said, per Daily Mail, revealing it was “miserable” to remember the details many years later.
Holt began responding to more inquiries on Facebook after the verdict was announced on December 9. “Does this affect your relationship with the family? I hope people aren’t mad at you,” another social media user asked Holt. “Oh my, we haven’t hung around [the Duggars] since 2006,” she alleged.
Josh married his current wife, Anna Duggar (née Keller), in September 2008 and they have welcomed seven children over the years. Their youngest arrived in October 2021 following Anna’s pregnancy announcement in April, not long before his arrest.
Now that he is facing up to 40 years behind bars, 20 per each count, the Duggars are “torn apart,” an insider told In Touch exclusively before his sentencing. “The family prayed and prayed, but also braced themselves for the worst.”
“The family is rallying, but some of the kids can’t forgive their brother Josh for what he did,” added the source about how it has further divided the former Counting On stars. “They’re horrified that he didn’t get help sooner.”