A former ABC News producer recently pleaded guilty to the transportation and possession of child sexual abuse material, according to the Department of Justice.
James Gordon Meek, 53, covered national security issues for ABC News until he resigned last year after it was discovered that in February 2020, while visiting South Carolina, he was allegedly using an iPhone to exchange child pornography during a chat with two other individuals.
“Some of the images and videos depicted prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12, including an infant being raped,” according to the Department of Justice.
Meek was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force after it received a tip from Dropbox about the videos showing the sensitive content, according to court documents.
An FBI affidavit indicated that while searching Meek’s home last year, agents found dozens of child pornography images and videos, some of which dated back to 2014.
On one device, the feds claimed they found disturbing conversations Meek had where he allegedly expressed a desire to sexually abuse children.
The New York Post reported that in one message, he allegedly said, “Have you ever raped a toddler girl? It’s amazing.”
In January, Meek was taken into custody, and in March, he was indicted on three counts, including transportation, distribution, and possession of child porn. His plea deal saw him plead guilty to transportation and possession only, according to The Daily Beast.
The former journalist is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 29 and is currently facing a mandatory minimum of five years in prison but could see as much as 40 years behind bars, according to the DOJ.
Meek was hired by ABC News in 2013 after he had worked for the New York Daily News and broke a story in 2006 about Al-Qaeda being foiled in its plans to bomb the New York City tunnels.
Meek investigated and helped produce a documentary on a US Special Forces mission in Niger that left four soldiers dead in 2017. He also won an Emmy for breaking news coverage of the Pulse nightclub shooting.
His legal team has not replied to a request for comment.
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