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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A suspended Charleston County judge has been officially charged with six different counts of child pornography along with a second person. James B. Gosnell Jr., 68, was arrested on September 16 and accused of possession of child sexual abuse material, according to the United States Department of Justice. Court documents filed on Tuesday state list six different counts for Gosnell: possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor, attempted receipt of child pornography, conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, two charges of receipt of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. Another man is also charged with four counts and listed as Gosnell’s codefendant, but his name was redacted from court documents. EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains details of alleged crimes involving child sexual abuse that readers may find extremely disturbing. Reader discretion is strongly advised. Federal investigators previously filed a motion opposing bond for Gosnell, alleging that he not only possessed a USB flash drive with hundreds of videos of child sex abuse material, but that they found evidence that Gosnell communicated with another man “with a shared interest in pedophilia,” describing “unimaginably explicit conversations.” Documents suggest that the judge was romantically involved with the man and that “their romantic interests involved abusing children together.” The motion alleged that Gosnell met with this man in Florida to exchange a flash drive. The details of the charges the unnamed codefendant faces match the actions of the man listed in prior documents against Gosnell. Tuesday’s motion stated the distribution began around December 2023 until Gosnell’s arrest. On a Sept. 24 hearing, prosecutors stated in one conversation that Gosnell described abusing a five-month-old in public in his neighborhood and later sent a selfie of himself and a 2-year-old child with the message, “my new buddy.” Court documents alleged that Gosnell claimed to have sexually assaulted the girl two weeks earlier. Conversations revealed that Gosnell described traveling to Puerto Vallerta to have sex with a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old and that other international travel was made for the purpose of engaging in sex with children. Most notably missing in the charges unsealed Tuesday are anything related to Gosnell’s claims of abusing neighborhood children or traveling to have sex with children. Investigators with Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorney’s Office want anyone who has a child or knows of a child who was ever alone with or even held by Gosnell to notify them via email at Charleston_exploitationtips@hsi.dhs.gov. Gosnell is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday at the Charleston Federal Courthouse. See the court filing below:
