As Josh Duggar’s ongoing child pornography trial began on Tuesday, November 30, he was joined by several familiar faces in the courtroom.
On the first day, the 19 Kids and Counting alum, 33, and wife Anna Duggar entered the Fayetteville, Arkansas, federal courthouse, side by side and holding hands.
The next day, Anna, also 33, sat beside Derick Dillard. The 32-year-old Counting On alum, who married Josh’s sister Jill Duggar in 2014, attended the proceedings one day after his wife’s name was listed as a “confirmed or potential” witness alongside brother Jed Duggar.
Days earlier, patriarch Jim Bob Duggar testified during a Monday, November 29, evidentiary hearing where he confirmed that his eldest son admitted to inappropriately touching four minor girls — several of whom were previously confirmed to be his sisters — in the early 2000s. During his testimony, Jim Bob, 56, revealed he could not recall the specific details of their conversation.
“We were shocked this had happened but we were thankful he came on his own and told us,” Jim Bob told the prosecutors. “He had told me that he had touched some of the girls when they were sleeping on their breasts … they didn’t wake up.”
While many of Josh’s family members have remained mum amid his legal proceeding since the court case began, cousin Amy King (née Duggar) has been more outspoken.
“Today is a heavy day,” Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar‘s niece, 35, wrote via Instagram Story on Tuesday, after it was announced that a jury had been selected. “This whole week will be. Next week will be too. Until justice is served.”
In a second Story post, she wrote: “Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord, I will repay thee. Please pray for the victims and for the truth to be revealed. Pray that the judge will give the ultimate sentence.”
Josh was previously arrested in April for allegedly “receiving and possessing material depicting the sexual abuse of children,” shortly after Anna announced the pair were expecting their seventh child. (Their daughter Madyson was born on October 23.)
Josh — who also shares Mackynzie, 12, Michael, 10, Marcus, 8, Meredith, 6, Mason, 4, and Maryella, 2, with Anna — entered a not guilty plea amid his arrest before being released on bond several days later.
Amid Josh’s scandal, TLC canceled his siblings’ Counting On reality TV series, which chronicled their daily family lives. Counting On premiered in December 2015 after 19 Kids and Counting stopped production amid his 2015 molestation scandal.
“TLC will not be producing additional seasons of Counting On,” the network said in a statement to Us Weekly in June. “TLC feels it is important to give the Duggar family the opportunity to address their situation privately.”
Jill and her husband, who previously exited the show in 2017, opened up about the cancellation via a blog post earlier this year.
“We first heard of the cancellation when both a friend & a cousin each texted us after seeing TLC’s statement online. We do not know how long the cancellation had been planned,” the couple, who share sons Israel, 6, and Samuel, 4, wrote via their blog at the time. “It’s been over 4 years now since we chose to step away from the show, and, although we were initially barred from sharing our decision to leave the show, we have opened up a little more recently on our social media. During our years on the show, we had many great experiences with the network, and several of the crew members have even become like family to us! However, we also faced many pressures and some unexpected challenges which forced us to step away from the show in an effort to gain more control over our own lives and to do what was best for our family.”
Scroll below to see which Duggar family members have attended Josh’s trial: