James Gordon Meek, a former ABC News producer, has been sentenced to 72 months in prison for transporting and possessing child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Meek, who worked with ABC News for almost a decade until last year when an investigation into child pornography allegations emerged, was found guilty of federal charges related to child sex abuse material in July.
The six-year prison term follows a court argument by federal prosecutors who recommended a sentence ranging from 12 ½ to 15 years due to the severity of his crimes.
Prosecutors Zoe Bedell and Whitney Kramer described Meek's actions in court documents filed last Friday. They stated that he actively sought out individuals on the internet to share and expand his collection of child sexual abuse material for his own sexual satisfaction.
They also pointed out that Meek exchanged explicit content involving "infants and toddlers" and depicted sadistic and masochistic abuse of prepubescent children. In his pursuit of this content, Meek solicited explicit images from underage individuals and even pretended to be a minor himself.
Court records revealed text message conversations between the former journalist and two girls, aged 14 and 15, who sent him pictures of their breasts. These messages also contained a video of him "naked and holding his penis."
The investigation into Meek began after the FBI received a tip linking videos of child sexual abuse to him. Law enforcement subsequently conducted a raid at his home in Arlington, Virginia. During the search, agents discovered numerous child pornography images that Meek had been accumulating since 2014.
At the time of the investigation, Meek was working as an investigative producer at ABC News. He had been part of the network's Washington bureau since 2013, following his previous work at the New York Daily News.
Throughout his career, Meek also served as a senior counterterrorism advisor and investigator for the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security. In 2017, he received an Emmy for his breaking news coverage of the shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub.
Following the raid on his home, Meek resigned from ABC News and was subsequently arrested in January on charges related to the transportation of child sexual abuse images.
In court documents filed on Monday, Meek's lawyer, Eugene Gorokhov, requested a sentence no greater than the minimum. Gorokhov argued that the prosecutors' recommendations were overly harsh, emphasizing that Meek's criminal actions were inconsistent with his established personal values.
The defense also cited Meek's role as a father of two girls and contended that his coverage of the war on terror in the Middle East had negatively impacted his mental health.
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