Content warning: This story discusses sexual assault and child pornography.
Amy Duggar King did not mince words while expressing her thoughts on her estranged cousin Josh Duggar's federal trial over child pornography charges.
"Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord, I will repay thee," Amy wrote, quoting the Bible, in a Nov. 30 Instagram Story captured in a screenshot by People. She added, "Please pray for the victims and for the truth to be revealed. Pray that the judge will give the ultimate sentence."
In April, Josh, the oldest sibling on the now-canceled TLC reality series 19 Kids & Counting, was arrested, temporarily detained and charged with receiving and possessing material depicting the sexual abuse of children. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His jury trial began in his native Arkansas on Tuesday.
Josh faces charges of one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. If convicted of both counts, he could receive a maximum prison sentence of 40 years.
Josh is accused of downloading child pornography in 2019, including one file that depicts the sexual abuse of children whose ages range from 18 months to 12 years old, a federal agent said at a hearing in May, adding that the images found on Josh's computer were "in the top five of the worst of the worst" that he'd ever seen.
Following Josh's arrest, his lawyers told E! News, "We intend to defend this case aggressively and thoroughly. In this country, no one can stop prosecutors from charging a crime. But when you're accused, you can fight back in the courtroom—and that is exactly what Josh intends to do."
On Monday, Nov. 29, a day before the trial started, Amy tweeted, "As you all know this week is extremely heavy. Pray for the victims and that the truth will be revealed."
Amy has spoken out against Josh before. In May, she told NBC's Today Parents, "My heart goes out to all those innocent, sweet victims. It breaks my heart...If you're going to look at such disgusting and sickening images, justice has to be served."
Amy, a married mother of one, added, "To look at my little guy who is 19 months old... my heart and my brain cannot comprehend that. It blows my mind. It's heartbreaking and disgusting and evil. It's so evil."
She also told E! News at the time, "I want to be as far away from this horrific situation as I possibly can."
This isn't the first time Josh, a married father of seven, has been accused of sexual misconduct. In 2015, 19 Kids and Counting was canceled after a 2006 police report surfaced; in it, Josh was accused of sexually molesting five underage girls while they slept when he was a teenager. His parents, Michelle Duggar and Jim Bob Duggar, later told Fox News that four of the girls were his sisters and that they sent Josh to counseling and had him speak to the police.
Josh was not charged and in response to the news, he issued a statement saying, "Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret."
On Wednesday, Dec. 1, the judge ruled that the prosecution can admit his past molestation case as evidence in his child pornography trial, according to documents obtained by E! News. A day earlier, the judge had read a list of people who would potentially be called to testify. According to Nexstar Media Wire, it included his sister, Jill Duggar Dillard—who, in a 2015 Fox News interview, revealed herself to be one of his molestation victims—brother Jedidiah Duggar, and family friends Jim Holt and Bobye Holt. Jim Bob Duggar was not on the list.
For a recent evidentiary hearing, the Duggar family patriarch was subpoenaed by the prosecution to speak about the 2006 police report about Josh. When asked about it, Jim Bob Duggar said, "I can't remember" and called it "tabloid information." He later said that Josh did speak to him and Michelle in 2002 about "inappropriate touching" of a minor and that his son also "confessed everything to Arkansas State Police," People reported.
"We tried to handle things in house," Jim Bob continued, according to the magazine. "It was a very difficult time in our family's life."