James Gosnell

James B. Gosnell Jr. served as a magistrate judge in Charleston County, South Carolina for more than 25 years, at times holding the title of Chief Magistrate. Magistrate judges in South Carolina are appointed to four-year terms by the governor. Gosnell presided over bond hearings and lower-court matters in the Charleston area. He was previously in the public eye in 2015, when he drew widespread criticism after extending sympathies to the family of Dylann Roof — the defendant in the mass shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston — during Roof's bond hearing, saying there were "victims on this young man's side of the family." The South Carolina Supreme Court replaced him as Chief Magistrate shortly after those remarks. He had also received a public reprimand from the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2003 for using a racial slur during a court proceeding.

What happened

August 20, 2025 — Gosnell denies bond for Eric Bowman; Mace praises the ruling. Gosnell presided over the bond hearing for Eric Bowman, a Sullivan's Island businessman whom Mace had publicly accused of sexual misconduct in a February 10, 2025 House floor speech. On August 20, 2025, Gosnell denied bond for Bowman, citing an existing harassment charge and pending motions to revoke bond in a related matter. Mace publicly praised the outcome. According to FITSNews reporting on August 21, 2025, Mace stated that the bond denial "sends a clear message to predators: violent crime will be prosecuted in South Carolina," and expressed her "sincerest gratitude to the victim who bravely spoke in court."

September 16, 2025 — Gosnell arrested on federal child sexual abuse material charges; suspended from the bench. Twenty-seven days after the Bowman bond hearing, the Department of Homeland Security arrested Gosnell, then 68, following a federal search of his home. Investigators alleged they found a flash drive containing videos and images of child sexual abuse material depicting minors, infants, and toddlers. The same day, the South Carolina Supreme Court issued an order suspending Gosnell from his judicial duties, finding his continued service "poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the public and the administration of justice." A federal indictment unsealed October 22, 2025, charged him with six counts including possessing, distributing, receiving, and conspiring to receive child sexual abuse material. Gosnell pleaded not guilty. If convicted on all counts, he faces a potential sentence of around 100 years in federal prison. Gosnell's attorney subsequently stated publicly that Gosnell claims the material was placed on his device without his knowledge — characterizing it as "a hack."

September 29 – October 21, 2025 — Mace issues multiple public statements condemning Gosnell. In a series of press releases and public statements, Mace condemned the charges. On approximately September 29, 2025, Mace issued a statement calling the allegations "sickening" and stating, per a Quiver Quant press-release mirror, that "anyone who preys on children is a monster" and that "when the accused is a judge entrusted to uphold the law, the betrayal is even more vile." On approximately October 1, 2025, Mace told ABC News 4 that she "couldn't even finish reading the press coverage of the allegations of what Judge Gosnell has done to infants as young as two months," calling it "disgusting," and stated: "If what has been alleged was actually conducted, it is some of the most evil, most vile things I have ever seen in my life." She added: "My position on child rapists is that they should be put to death." On approximately October 9, 2025, Mace delivered remarks stating — as characterized by a video posted on her official House website — that Gosnell "used his robe to hide pure evil" and deserves "the harshest punishment under the law." On October 21, 2025, a further Mace press release stated: "Not only are these charges horrific, they expose a deep and dangerous failure within South Carolina's judicial system. We fully support the death penalty for anyone who rapes children. No one, not even a judge, is above the law."

All characterizations above (including "pure evil," "disgusting," "monster," and the death-penalty advocacy) are attributed to Mace's public statements and not asserted as fact by this wiki.

MACEOPEDIA

What happened

Sources

See also