Charleston, South Carolina – James Gosnell Jr., the suspended Charleston County magistrate judge indicted by a grand jury on federal sexual abuse material counts, is due to be arraigned Thursday morning.
On October 21, a federal grand jury accused Gosnell, 68, on six offenses connected to child sexual abuse material, according to records.
He was arrested in September after a Homeland Security investigation claimed to have linked an account associated with Gosnell to a website in the United Kingdom that distributed child sexual assault material.
At the first hearing, on September 17, Gosnell’s counsel attempted to portray the circumstances surrounding his detention as a rare incident in order to secure pre-trial release; but, prosecutors’ facts portrayed a quite different picture.
In a Sept. 21 petition, prosecutors argued that Gosnell should remain in prison and labeled him as a serious threat to the community, citing chats purportedly recovered on Gosnell’s phone in which he admitted harming children on several occasions, including some in his neighborhood.
Tuesday’s indictment makes no mention of the allegations of physical child sexual assault, instead accusing Gosnell and an unnamed co-defendant of transmitting and receiving pornographic content involving children.
His hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Charleston.
