Suspended county magistrate to remain in jail

MORNING HEADLINES | A suspended Charleston County magistrate facing a federal sex materials charge will remain in jail without bond until a detention hearing set for next week, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

James B. Gosnell Jr., suspended Tuesday as a magistrate judge after federal agents arrested him for possession of child sexual abuse materials, is scheduled for a detention hearing Sept. 22 – unless he waives his right to one and agrees to stay in detention, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, local and state prosecutors say they’ll review cases that went before Gosnell to determine the impact of his arrest on past cases he heard. A magistrate judge since 1996, Gosnell presided mostly over preliminary hearings to determine whether prosecutors could proceed with local charges.

“We will review our cases to ensure there has been no adverse or even questionable impact on any of our cases,” Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson told The Post and Courier. The state attorney general’s office is conducting a similar review.

Federal agents on Tuesday charged Gosnell after they reportedly received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about multiple financial transactions with a purportedly known distributor of child sexual abuse material from the United Kingdom.

Agents are said to have found a flash drive containing numerous videos and images depicting child sexual abuse, including videos and images of minors, infants and toddlers engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Hours after Gosnell’s arrest, S.C. Chief Justice John Kittredge ordered his suspension from the magistrate bench until further notice.

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