James B. Gosnell Jr. Removed

Charleston County Magistrate James B. Gosnell Jr. was arrested in September 2025 after a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led Homeland Security Investigations agents to him. Gosnell confessed to federal agents that he possessed child sexual abuse material and had communicated with other individuals through the messaging app Telegram. Federal prosecutors said that in those Telegram conversations, Gosnell described having raped and abused children on numerous occasions — a description prosecutors cited from his own messages, distinct from the specific charges he was ultimately convicted of. The South Carolina Supreme Court suspended Gosnell before his criminal case concluded, finding that his continued service on the bench posed "a substantial threat of serious harm to the public and the administration of justice." Gosnell pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material. He faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 40 years in federal prison, along with a fine of up to $250,000, restitution, and lifetime supervision following any prison term. He has been ordered to register as a sex offender.