*This story contains allegations involving child sexual abuse that may be disturbing.
An indictment, partially unsealed Tuesday, reveals six federal charges against now suspended Charleston County magistrate James B. Gosnell Jr.
Those charges include possessing, distributing, and receiving child sexual abuse materials involving explicit images of prepubescent minors, toddlers and infants engaged in sexual conduct. Some of the depictions, authorities say, involve rape and torture.
The indictment alleges that Gosnell and another man, whose identity is sealed, had been talking about and exchanging graphic photographs and videos since December 2023. And that at some point, the two “discussed future plans to meet with other pedophiles to rape and torture a prepubescent minor.”
68-year-old Gosnell has been behind bars since his arrest on Sept. 16th following a federal search of his home and electronic devices. Investigators say they found hundreds of images and conversations about the sexual abuse of children, and that Gosnell shared the images with the other, unidentified man on a flash drive.
A tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children prompted the Department of Homeland Security to investigate. That tip, authorities say, included multiple financial transactions with a child sexual abuse material distributer from the United Kingdom.
