Former ABC News Producer Arrested on Child Porn Charge

A former ABC News producer and journalist was arrested on federal child pornography charges on Jan. 31, the U.S. Department of Justice said. James Gordon Meek, 53, allegedly transported images showing the sexual abuse of children. The Arlington, Virginia resident faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison if he is convicted on charges of transportation of child pornography.

The investigation into Meek began after the FBI Washington Field Office's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force received a tip originally sent via Dropbox, according to court documents. This led to a court-authorized search of Meek's home in April 2022. The task force seized multiple devices that allegedly had evidence of images of child sexual abuse being transported.

Meek's devices allegedly show children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to court documents. There was also evidence allegedly showing chat conversations about sexually explicit topics, with participants excitedly discussing the sexual abuse of children. Two of those conversations showed a username allegedly used by Meek to receive and distribute child sexual abuse images.

Meek worked at ABC for nine years before resigning after the FBI raid at his home last year, reports Variety. He also worked on the primetime news programs Nightline and 20/20. He was involved in Hulu's 3212 Un-Redacted, which covered the U.S. government's cover-up of four U.S. Special Forces soldiers' deaths in Africa. He also won an Emmy in 2017 for ABC News' breaking news coverage and was nominated for three other Emmys.

The case against Meek was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative that the Justice Department started in 2006 to curb child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project is overseen by the U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Trial Attorney Whitney Kramer of the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Bedell for the Eastern District of Virginia are the prosecutors working on the case. The FBI Washington Field Office's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case, with assistance from the Arlington County Police Department. The task force included FBI agents and other federal agents based in Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.