Broward man, South Carolina judge teamed up to spread child abuse material: feds

A Fort Lauderdale man and a South Carolina man are behind bars after federal prosecutors say they conspired to possess and distribute child sexual abuse material — even doing so by passing back and forth a USB via FedEx.

In December 2023, John Badger Thorpe began talking to Charleston County Magistrate Judge James Benjamin Gosnell, Jr., 68, on Telegram, per a federal indictment. Gosnell has been jailed in September, while Broward County jail records show Thorpe was locked up on Sunday.

Via the aforementioned Telegram chats, the two men discussed their sexual preferences for children and exchanged abuse material, according to their federal arrest paperwork.

The men subsequently began discussing the use of a USB drive to store and distribute the material. This is when Gosnell traveled to Florida to hand-deliver the USB drive that prosecutors say had material showing “infant and toddlers being raped and tortured,” which the men watched together.

Gosnell left the USB with Thorpe, who later returned it to Gosnell via FedEx. Prosecutors say they discussed meeting up with other pedophiles to abuse children.

Between them, Thorpe and Gosnell face nine federal charges related to the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.

Gosnell, currently suspended from his position as a magistrate judge, has been denied bond and pleaded not guilty.

Thorpe remains in Broward County Jail, awaiting extradition to South Carolina, where both men will be prosecuted in federal court in Charleston.