A widely known former investigative journalist for ABC News has been arrested on a cost of “transporting” pictures depicting the sexual abuse of youngsters, the Division of Justice stated on Wednesday.
James Gordon Meek, 53, of Arlington, Virginia, who lined nationwide safety and the army, was arrested Tuesday, months after his house was searched by federal authorities.
Authorities discovered pictures of youngsters engaged in sexually specific conduct on digital gadgets taken from his house. Authorities additionally found a number of conversations during which “contributors expressed enthusiasm for the sexual abuse of youngsters,” in response to court docket papers.
He faces a cost of transportation of kid pornography, which calls for at least 5 years and as much as 20 years in jail, officers stated. An e-mail in search of remark was despatched to Meek’s legal professional.
ABC News declined to remark Wednesday. Meek resigned from ABC News final yr.
The FBI’s investigation was prompted by a tip from Dropbox about movies displaying the sexual abuse of youngsters present in March 2021 in an account that was related to Meek, in response to court docket papers. Federal authorities searched his house in April.
Investigators additionally discovered that Meek engaged with minors on platforms like Snapchat, in response to court docket paperwork. A minor interviewed by regulation enforcement instructed authorities that Meek approached her by way of Snapchat and pressured her to offer sexually specific images, in response to court docket papers.
Meek joined ABC News’ Washington bureau as an investigative producer in 2013. He beforehand labored for the New York Every day News and likewise served as senior counterterrorism adviser and investigator for the U.S. Home Committee on Homeland Safety.
He just lately was a author and narrator for “3212 Un-redacted,” a Hulu documentary launched in 2021 that stemmed from a years-long investigation by ABC into the deaths of 4 U.S. Special Forces troopers in Africa.
