James Gordon Meek, a former ABC News producer and five-time Emmy nominee as a reporter, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on Friday morning in a federal courtroom in Virginia.
The Department of Justice announced in a news release that Meek, 53, had pleaded guilty to the transportation and possession of child sexual abuse material.
Former Journalist Pleads Guilty to Transportation and Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material https://t.co/qz4tUROo5v
— Criminal Division (@DOJCrimDiv) July 21, 2023
According to the DOJ, Meek was visiting South Carolina in February 2020 from his home in Virginia when he sent and received disturbing images and videos that depicted minors engaged in sexual activity with adults.
He allegedly discussed in detail his sexual interests in children during conversations on a smart phone while using a chat application.
WARNING: The following descriptions of the material and messages discovered in the investigation contain graphic language which some may find disturbing.
Files found on the phone reportedly included images and videos of prepubescent children and at least one file that depicted an infant being raped.
The Associated Press reported the file was a video that was shared during a conversation between Meek and two other people.
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Meek’s home was initially raided by the FBI last year after the data storage company Dropbox flagged a number of videos he was storing on its servers, The New York Post reported.
A number of electronic devices were seized. In February of this year, Meek was arrested and charged.
Investigators said Meek sent and received disturbing images and also sent alarming messages.
Some of them dated back as far as 2014.
“Have you ever raped a toddler girl? It’s amazing,” one message typed by Meek and obtained by investigators read.
In another message, he reportedly spoke of “abducting, drugging, and raping” a girl who was only 12 years old.
Other messages he exchanged were with minor children, while the Washington Post reported he also had classified information on one computer.
The AP, citing a federal affidavit, reported the former producer and journalist also used “Snapchat and other apps to pressure minors into sending him sexually explicit images” and sometimes “portrayed himself as a girl.”
Meek was hired by ABC News in 2013 following a lengthy stint with the New York Daily News, where he was a national security reporter.
He resigned from ABC News after the FBI raid of his home in April 2022.
Meek’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 29. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, but could get up to 40 years, the DOJ said.
