Federal authorities have arrested James Benjamin Gosnell, Jr., a 68-year-old Charleston County magistrate, on allegations of possessing child sexual abuse material.
According to the criminal complaint, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding financial transactions linked to a distributor of child sexual abuse material based in the United Kingdom. The payments were traced to an online money transfer account associated with Gosnell’s contact information, including his phone number, address, and email. The transactions reportedly took place in November 2024.
Following this lead, investigators secured a search warrant for Gosnell’s residence and electronic devices. During their search, they found a flash drive containing numerous videos and images depicting child sexual abuse involving prepubescent minors, infants, and toddlers engaged in sexually explicit acts.
Gosnell was taken into custody Tuesday morning. He is scheduled for arraignment Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Molly Cherry.
“This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.”
Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Orville, Whit Sowards, and Emily Limehouse are prosecuting.
Authorities emphasized that all charges in a criminal complaint are accusations at this stage; defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The term “child pornography” is still used in federal statutes but “child sexual abuse material” is preferred because it better reflects the nature of the content involved and its impact on victims.
