Prison Pals? State Trooper Who Let Josh Off The Hook Is Behind Bars...For Child Porn!
April 30 2021, Published 6:23 p.m. ET
Josh Duggar could have an unlikely prison pen pal as he awaits his May 5 hearing in his child porn case, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned. That’s because the State Trooper who declined to pursue charges against Josh for molesting his sisters years ago is in prison now, too — on child porn charges.
According to police records, former State Trooper Joseph T. Hutchens gave Josh “a stern talk” when the then-teen Duggar confessed to having molested sisters Jill, Joy-Anna, Jessa, and Jinger.
Hutchens later expressed regret over the decision, telling In Touch in 2015, "I thought what I did was right— obviously it wasn’t. The young girl should have been my top priority. I feel terrible. I have lost lots of sleep over this."
In fact, Hutchens even attempted suicide in 2015, begging for forgiveness in a suicide note found at the scene.
However, Josh’s situation is not the only decision Hutchens has to be sorry for. According to Arkansas Department of Corrections records, Hutchens is currently serving a decades-long term for child porn charges of his own. In 2007, Hutchens was found guilty of 20 counts of distributing, possessing, or viewing matter depicting child sex.
At the time, he was classified a “repeat offender,” after having been previously convicted of multiple counts of distributing, possessing, or viewing matter depicting child sex back in 2005.
Hutchens is currently serving out his sentence at the “Tucker Unit,” three and a half hours away from the Washington County Jail where Josh is being held.
However, there’s no hope for a catch-up in the prison commissary. Since Josh, 33, was arrested on federal charges, he will serve time at a federal prison — not a state one — if found guilty.
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