Former ABC News Producer James Gordon Meek Charged with Transportation of Child Pornography

By Mark Mwachiro 

The former national security investigative producer for ABC News, James Gordon Meek, was arrested by the FBI Tuesday night and is being charged by federal prosecutors with transportation of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed in Eastern Virginia Wednesday.

Meek, who was arrested on Tuesday, could face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted.

Rolling Stone‘s Adam Rawnsley reported the news Wednesday.

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According to court documents, a court-authorized search of Meek’s Arlington, Va., residence in April 2022 was initiated by an investigative lead sent by Dropbox and ultimately received by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.

Meek resigned from ABC News shortly after that.

During that search, members of the task force seized multiple devices that allegedly contained evidence of the transportation of images of child sexual abuse. According to court documents, the images found in many of Meek’s devices depict children engaged in sexually explicit behavior.

Rolling Stone’s Tatiana Siegel wrote back in October:

“In the raid’s aftermath, Meek has made himself scarce. None of his Siena Park neighbors with whom Rolling Stone spoke have seen him since, with his apartment appearing to be vacant. Siena Park management declined to confirm that their longtime tenant was gone, citing ‘privacy policies.’ Similarly, several ABC News colleagues — who are accustomed to unraveling mysteries and cracking investigative stories — tell Rolling Stone that they have no idea what happened to Meek. ‘He fell off the face of the Earth,’ says one. ‘And people asked, but no one knew the answer.’”

Meek had been with ABC News since 2013, and during that time, he also served as a senior investigator for the House Homeland Security Committee.

He also produced an ABC News Presents documentary for Hulu named 3212 UN-REDACTED: An Ambush in Africa. The Pentagon’s Betrayal, which ended up being honored by the Headliner Awards for best documentary of the year. The documentary focuses on a 2017 mission in Niger, Africa, gone wrong and one that resulted in the deaths of 4 U.S. Special Forces soldiers. The 3212 is in reference to the Green Beret team, and the documentary claims that there is “evidence of a cover-up at the highest levels of the Army.”

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