A judge ruled that child molestation allegations against Josh Duggar can be used in his child pornography trial

• The former reality TV star Josh Duggar is on trial in Arkansas for two counts of child pornography.
• A federal judge ruled Wednesday that prosecutors can show the jury evidence of past child molestation allegations.

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the years-old child molestation allegations against Josh Duggar are fair game for prosecutors to use during the former reality TV star's child pornography trial.

Duggar, formerly of TLC's "19 Kids and Counting," is on trial for two counts of child pornography and has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors argued they should be able to show the jury evidence of Duggar's past behavior — including his alleged admissions that he molested five young girls, four of whom were his sisters.

Duggar was never charged in connection to the molestation allegations, which date back to the early 2000s, when Duggar himself was a minor. But Arkansas police conducted an investigation into the allegations in 2006, and Duggar received counseling.

Duggar's parents acknowledged in a 2015 interview that their son had inappropriately touched his sisters, and Duggar himself issued a public apology for having "acted inexcusably." Two of his sisters have even spoken out about the alleged incidents, saying they forgave their brother.

On Monday, a family friend of the Duggars testified at a pre-trial hearing, saying Duggar had told her on multiple occasions about inappropriately touching young girls — both over and under their clothing. The family friend, Bobye Holt, testified that Duggar once confessed to digitally penetrating one of the girls' vaginas while he read her bible stories as she sat in his lap.

Duggar's defense attorneys sought to to bar prosecutors from presenting those child molestation allegations to the jury, but District Judge Timothy Brooks ruled Wednesday that prosecutors had shown "clear and compelling" evidence that Duggar had committed prior acts of child molestation, which were therefore relevant to the trial.

"The child pornography victims in this case are approximately the same ages as the victims of [Duggar's] hands-on child-molestation offenses," Brooks wrote in his order. "Accordingly, the prior-act evidence is probative of [Duggar's] sexual interest in underage children and his propensity fo exploiting young girls."

Duggar's attorneys had also tried to argue that Holt shouldn't be permitted to testify because her conversations with Duggar constituted "clergy privilege." Holt was a member of the Duggar family's church, and Duggar's attorneys said Duggar looked to Holt as a "spiritual leader."

But Brooks noted in his Wednesday order that Holt had explicitly stated she was not a pastor or elder of the church, and held no position of authority.

"To state the obvious: Conversations between two church members are not shielded from discovery by the clergy privilege — even if those conversations involve serious subjects and are punctuated by prayer," Brooks wrote.