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James Gordon Meek, previously a producer for the television news station ABC, has pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse material transit and possession and is expected to be sentenced on September 29. Here’s what we know about the case and potential sentences that Meek could recieve:
What is the Gordon Meek Child Pornography Case?
The charges against James Meek stem from a February 2020 trip to South Carolina during which the 53-year-old former journalist and producer based in Arlington used an online communication platform (identified as the Kik messaging app) on his personal iPhone to send and receive images and videos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit behavior, as well as discussing his sexual interest in children there as well. When he returned to Virginia, he carried the phone with this information with him. Of the media in Meek’s phone, the Department of Justice commented that “some of the images and videos depicted prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12, including an infant being raped.”
Meek was apprehended and taken into custody in January as the result of an investigation launched by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The investigation was a result of a Dropbox tip from March 2021 to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alleging that on the 10th of March, child pornography media was uploaded to an account with a username and IP addresses connected with the ex-ABC employee.
What are the potential sentences that Gordon could receive?
Meek recently confessed after the FBI obtained a search warrant for his Virginia home before searching it on April 27, 2022, and seizing several devices (including a personal phone and an external hard drive allegedly containing evidence related to his initial charge). He was reportedly charged in March with three charges of child porn transportation, distribution, and possession.
According to The Daily Beast, Meek has now pled guilty to transportation and possession solely, with his plea bargain eliminating the distribution accusation. According to the Department of Justice, Gordon is due to be sentenced on September 29 and faces a mandated minimum of five years in jail and a maximum punishment of 40 years in prison.