Ex-ABC News producer arrested on youngster pornography costs

A former producer for ABC News was arrested Tuesday on federal costs of transporting youngster pornography.

James Gordon Meek, who lives in Arlington, Va., had a number of gadgets seized from his dwelling by the FBI final April, the Division of Justice stated in an announcement. Based on court docket paperwork, they contained photos of youngsters engaged in sexually express conduct.

Authorities additionally discovered a number of chat conversations with customers who expressed enthusiasm for sexually abusing youngsters.

The Division of Justice stated that, in two of these conversations, a username allegedly related to Meek obtained and distributed youngster sexual abuse supplies by way of an internet-based messaging platform.

Meek was investigated after the federal government obtained a tip in 2021 from Dropbox, the file-hosting platform. Dropbox discovered 5 movies that depicted youngster pornography in an account in Meek’s identify, based on an affidavit from an FBI agent investigating the case.

If convicted, Meek faces a compulsory minimal sentence of 5 years in jail and a most penalty of 20 years.

Meek, 53, give up ABC News on April 27, the day the FBI raided his dwelling. He additionally had his identify faraway from a e book he co-authored that was revealed final summer time by Simon & Schuster about Operation Pineapple Express, a secret mission by which a bunch of U.S. army veterans rescued a whole bunch of allied operatives from Afghanistan.

An ABC News consultant had no touch upon Meek’s arrest.

Meek specialised in masking nationwide safety because the late Nineties. He joined ABC News in 2013 after serving two years as a senior counterterrorism advisor and investigator for the Home Committee on Homeland Safety.

The Prison Division’s Little one Exploitation and Obscenity Part and Assistant U.S. Atty. Zoe Bedell for the Jap District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.