(LibertySociety.com) – James Gordon Meek, a former ABC News investigative producer and journalist, has been charged with transportation of illegal content involving children. According to the Department of Justice, Meek was arrested on Tuesday night and could face a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison if found guilty. The FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force conducted the investigation that led to Meek’s arrest.
The investigation began in March 2021 when Dropbox told the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that someone uploaded inappropriate content on the service. The FBI traced the account to Meek’s home in Arlington and obtained a search warrant. When agents searched Meek’s home on April 27, 2022, they found several electronic devices that contained evidence related to the charges against him.
The evidence allegedly included illegal images depicting minors, as well as chat conversations in which the participants expressed a fondness for child abuse. The Department of Justice stated that Meek had used social media platforms to engage with minors and had urged them to send explicit images. In addition to this, Meek also received and distributed the illegal content.
Meek abruptly resigned from ABC News on the same day as the FBI’s raid on his home, according to news outlets. He had previously worked on “Nightline” and “20/20”, and was an Emmy-nominated journalist. Most recently, Meek had worked on “3212 Un-Redacted,” a Hulu documentary about the deaths of four U.S. Special Forces soldiers in Africa.
The evidence found by the FBI points to a disturbing pattern of behavior, which is a violation of the trust placed in journalists to provide accurate and ethical reporting. The justice system will now have to determine Meek’s guilt or innocence, but regardless of the outcome, his reputation and career could be forever tarnished.
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