by WorldTribune Staff, July 26, 2023
James Meek, an Emmy award-winning reporter at ABC News, has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.
Meek, 53, admitted to transporting and possessing child sexual abuse material. The charges carry jail time from 5 to 20 years, but under federal sentencing guidelines that come with his guilty plea, Meek is likely to face far less than the max at his Sept. 29 sentencing, the New York Post reported.
Federal investigators say they found three conversations on Meek’s phone in he allegedly expressed a desire to sexually abuse children. He was also found to have both received and sent photos and videos of child pornography.
In one message, Meek allegedly asked someone on a chat app, “Have you ever raped a toddler girl? It’s amazing.” And in another message he shared a fantasy of “abducting, drugging, and raping” a 12-year-old girl.
The journalist also kept child porn images and videos on his other devices that showed he’d chatted with minors on the Internet, prosecutors allege.
The investigation was launched after Dropbox alerted officials that Meek had child porn on his account.
The FBI raided Meek’s Arlington, Virginia home on April 27, 2022, seizing his electronics. Meek resigned from ABC News and went off the grid immediately after the raid.
In March, Meek was indicted on three counts, including transportation, distribution and possession of child porn. Meek pleaded guilty to transportation and possession only, according to The Daily Beast, with his plea agreement dismissing the distribution count.
“What’s most infuriating is that a dangerous predator like this was allowed to plea bargain and wipe out the most serious charge, allowing this animal back on the streets sooner,” Revolver News noted. “Meanwhile, there are non-violent January 6th protesters rotting away in prison, facing harsher sentences than this demonic ABC reporter who preyed on innocent children and infants.”
Meek investigated and produced Hulu’s acclaimed 2021 documentary “3212 Un-redacted” about a U.S. Special Forces mission in Niger that left four soldiers dead in 2017. He also won an Emmy in 2017 for breaking news coverage of the Pulse nightclub shooting.
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