A former journalist for ABC News was detained and accused of transporting child pornography
James Gordon Meek, who worked as an investigative producer, resigned from his position at the news organization in April 2022 the same day the FBI raided his home.
James Gorden Meek, a former ABC News journalist and investigative producer, has been detained and accused of transporting child pornography.
The 53-year-old man from Arlington, Virginia, was apprehended, according to the Department of Justice, who made the announcement. If found guilty, Meek will be sentenced to a minimum of five years and a maximum of twenty.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip on March 11, 2021, which prompted an investigation by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The information stated that on March 10, child pornography was reportedly uploaded to an account with a username and IP address connected to James Meek. The FBI obtained a search warrant for Meek’s Virginia home and searched it on April 27, 2022, seizing several devices, including a personal phone and external hard drive, that allegedly contain evidence related to his charge.
The Justice Department said in a statement on Wednesday that the evidence included images “depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and numerous chat conversations with users engaged in sexually explicit conversations where the participants expressed enthusiasm for the sexual abuse of children.” In court records, it is claimed that the former journalist’s account on a chat app “received and disseminated child sexual abuse items,” providing “strong evidence that Meek has engaged directly, and tried to connect, with minors online on platforms and applications.”
Meek, an Emmy-nominated journalist who had previously contributed to ABC’s Nightline and 20/20, most recently contributed to 3212 Un-Redacted, a Hulu documentary concerning the deaths of four American Special Forces soldiers in Africa. He left his position with ABC News the day his home was raided by the FBI.