Former ABC News journalist arrested, charged with possession of child pornography, faces 20 years in prison

Former ABC News journalist James Gordon Meek was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography. This was announced by the federal authorities on Wednesday.

Meek, a 53-year-old resident of Arlington, Virginia, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with transporting child pornography, authorities said.

According to NBC News, If found guilty, authorities say Mick could face a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years behind bars.

Meek abruptly quit ABC last year after his home was raided in April.

The investigation began in March 2021 when Dropbox filed a complaint with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, alleging that a user uploaded videos of its service that “police later confirmed contained child pornography,” according to a criminal lawsuit filed in court. . U.S.A.

Investigators traced the account under the username “James Meek” to the suspect’s home in Arlington. the complaint asserts.

“Mick’s devices allegedly contained images showing children engaging in sexually explicit activities and numerous chat conversations with users engaging in sexually explicit conversations where participants expressed concern about child sexual abuse,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Meek allegedly used social media platforms to chat online with minors, whom he successfully convinced to send him explicit images. themselves, authorities said.

According to the complaint, investigators seized the suspect’s external hard drive with “58 suspected child pornography images and videos” and an iPhone 6 in Mick’s bedroom with “approximately 34 suspected child pornography images and videos.”