<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal judge on Wednesday allowed former reality TV star Josh Duggar to be released as he awaits trial on charges that he downloaded and possessed child pornography.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Christy Comstock ordered Duggar, 33, confined to the home of family friends who have agreed to be his custodian during his release and prohibited Duggar from any Internet-accessible devices pending his July 6 trial on the child pornography charges. </p>
<p>Duggar was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tv-josh-duggar-entertainment-reality-tv-arts-and-entertainment-dd8ab972d1bfb6d73c7baca0ce0baf46">indicted on the federal child pornography charges</a> on Friday, a day after U.S. Marshals arrested him. He has pleaded not guilty.</p>
<p>Duggar starred on TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” until it was pulled from the network in 2015 following revelations that Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. Duggar’s parents said he had confessed to the fondling and apologized.</p>
<p>Duggar <a href="https://apnews.com/article/josh-duggar-pornography-entertainment-television-programs-arts-and-entertainment-594d303d185e4eabaa6ec9f0c2926146">previously apologized for a pornography addiction and cheating on his wife.</a></p>
<p>Comstock said that, during his release, Duggar could have contact with his children only with his wife present. But the judge said Duggar could not be around any other minors, including other family members.</p>
<p>During a four-hour hearing, a federal Homeland Security agent said pornographic images depicting the sexual abuse of children, including toddlers, had been downloaded in 2019 by a computer at a car dealership Duggar owned.</p>
<p>A monitoring program that sent reports to Duggar’s wife about his activity had been installed on the computer, but the images and videos were downloaded after software had been installed that allowed him to download them without being monitored</p>
