When Josh Duggar was released on bail last month after being charged with possession of child pornography, he was sent to live with a conservative Christian couple described as family friends of the Duggars — and now it has been revealed that Josh’s brother-in-law is dating the couple’s daughter.
Josh, 33, was released to the home of LaCount and Maria Reber, who live with their daughter Hannah, 22, in Lafayette, Arkansas.
While the Rebers said they have known the Duggar family for six to eight years, LaCount said that he didn’t know Josh particularly well.
But social media screengrabs reveal that David Keller — the 20-year-old younger brother of Josh’s wife Anna — is currently courting Hannah Reber.
Pest: Josh Duggar, 33, was charged with receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material in May, with some material showing children younger than 12
Bail: He was released to the home of LaCount and Maria Reber, who live with their daughter Hannah, 22, in Lafayette, Arkansas (pictured with their son Lemuel, who lives with his wife)
Surprise! Hannah (top) is dating David Keller (bottom), the 20-year-old younger brother of Josh’s wife Anna
Anna has seven siblings, six of whom are married. And now David, the youngest, may be on his way to matrimonial bliss with the young woman currently living with his brother-in-law, and accused pedophile.
This week, David posted a photo of Hannah on Instagram, gushing like a man in love.
‘Hey everyone, I’d like you to meet Hannah Reber! I have really enjoyed getting to know her. God gives good Gifts,’ he wrote.
Hannah soon shared her own photo of David, this one a screengrab of them FaceTiming while lying in their prospective beds.
‘Dear David. God gives good gifts,’ she wrote with a yellow heart emoji.
The couple ultimately switched their Instagram accounts to private, but not before Redditors captured screengrabs and shared them on a snarking subreddit.
Dating with a purpose: David posted a photo of Hannah on Instagram, gushing: ‘I’d like you to meet Hannah Reber! I have really enjoyed getting to know her. God gives good Gifts’
Family: It’s unclear if the relationship began before or after David’s brother-in-law Josh moved in (Josh pictured far left with Anna, David picture in white under swingset)
Connection: If they tie the knot, Josh would be related by marriage to the Rebers (Josh pictured far left, David pictured top right)
It’s unclear how long the pair have been dating, and if there relationship began before or after David’s brother-in-law Josh moved in.
But the Kellers, like the Duggars, are fundamentalist Christians who ‘court’ instead of date — and announcing a relationship often means an engagement is imminent.
If they tie the knot, Josh would be related by marriage to the Rebers, whom he is living with under home detention with an ankle monitor as he awaits his trial, which is set to start on July 6.
In a bail hearing last month, LaCount and Maria agreed to house Josh, even after hearing that authorities had found that he kept a sickening trove of 200 child porn images on his computer.
Josh is not allowed to return home to his pregnant wife Anna and their six children, though he is allowed supervised visitation.
LaCount, 49, is an MRI tech with the US Department of Veterans Affairs and was previously a volunteer chaplain at the Washington County Detention Center, where Duggar was locked up after his April 29 arrest.
He and Maria, 53, a fulltime homemaker, were described at a bail hearing as longstanding church friends of Duggar patriarch Jim Bob and his wife Michelle.
Taking him in: Hannah’s father LaCount, 49, is an MRI tech with the US Department of Veterans Affairs and was previously a volunteer chaplain at the Washington County Detention Center
LaCount and Maria are friends of the Duggar family, whom they’ve known for six to eight years
The Duggars turned to them for help in particular because of LaCount’s experience within the prison system.
The couple agreed to keep their internet pin-protected and remove their rifles and six pistols from the house. They are required by law to tip off authorities if Duggar breaches his bail conditions.
While LaCount and Maria have a son, Lemuel, 24, who recently married and no longer lives with them, their daughter Hannah, a classical pianist, still lives there and teaches music out of the family home.
The couple has other connections to the Duggars. Two of Josh’s brothers, Jed and Jeremiah, were groomsman at Lemuel’s wedding. Austin Forsyth, who is married to Joy Anna, was also a groomsman.
The Rebers told the court that they did not know Josh well, but were friends with Jim Bob and had known the Duggars since 2015. They said they agreed as part of their faith, and their belief in helping people in need.
Maria said she initially had reservations about being alone in the house with Duggar, but added: ‘We want to help the family and minister to them. My husband has made the decision and I’m here to support that decision.’
Out: Josh was released on bail while he awaits trial for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material
Josh’s lawyers say they need more time for a computer forensic expert to review the evidence
The couple said they were prepared to remove their firearms from the house as a condition of hosting Josh, and agreed that if Josh violated the terms of his bail they would tell probation officers.
‘Not your husband, not Jim Bob Duggar, not elders in the church,’ Judge Comstock warned.
Under the release to third-party custodians, Duggar must wear an ankle monitor, have a probation officer’s permission to leave the couple’s home, cannot access the internet, or be inside a residency where firearms are stored.
During the hearing, Homeland Security special agent Gerald Faulkner testified that the images found on Duggar’s computer were ‘in the top five of the worst of the worst that I’ve ever had to examine’.
Investigators seized Duggar’s computer and cellphone during a 2019 raid on his now-closed car dealership, Wholesale Motorcars.
The agent testified they found 65 child sexual abuse images showing a young girl. Agents also allegedly found a two-minute video that showed a man sexually abusing two young girls, aged between five and 10 years old.
Two hundred child sexual abuse images found on the computer were located in ‘unallocated space,’ which means someone tried to delete them, the agent said.
Pray, not prey: Despite the seriousness of his charges, Josh is allowed to see his own six children with supervision
Gross: Duggar is alleged to have downloaded the child sexual abuse material online back in 2019 on May 14, 15, and 16
When the raid was carried out and before Duggar knew what authorities were investigating, Duggar had allegedly asked agents: ‘What is this about? Has someone been downloading child pornography?’
Duggar was asked about having child porn in his possession and he allegedly responded: ‘I’d rather not answer that question.’
Duggar is alleged to have downloaded the child sexual abuse material online back in 2019 on May 14, 15, and 16.
The files were first flagged by a detective in Little Rock before allegedly being traced to Duggar’s car dealership. The IP address of the computer was also linked to Duggar’s dealership.
Josh’s trial is set to go forward in two weeks, though his lawyers have made an attempt to have it postponed until 2022 — and it may be at least pushed back a few months.
Legal documents from Josh’s lawyers reportedly ask that the trial be pushed to a date ‘in or after February 2022,’ with his lawyers calling the case ‘complex’ with a ‘several-year federal investigation,’ and they expect the trial to involve ‘computer forensic evidence and anticipated expert opinion testimony.’
His wife, Anna, reportedly thinks he is innocent — and blames his parents for his arrest
Pleading: Josh’s lawyers asked that the trial be delayed until next year
To that end, they have ‘retained an independent computer forensic expert who must conduct a computer forensic examination of each of the devices at issue — a time-consuming process that requires review at a government facility for the one device the Government alleges contained child pornography.’
They said the computer forensic expert must ‘conduct a time-intensive process of reviewing the remaining devices that the Government does not allege contained child pornography,’ which they say could take several months.
But prosecutors in Arkansas objected on Monday, telling the court they would agree to a ‘reasonable continuance’ of three months but said postponing the trial to next year ‘would result in unnecessary delay.’
A three month delay would allow Josh’s lead attorney Justin Gelfand to prepare for his other criminal trials scheduled for September, October, and November, but ‘there exists no legally or factually valid reason supporting a continuance until February of 2022.’