A Virginia judge sentenced former ABC News producer James Gordon Meek to six years in jail Friday for the transportation and possession of child porn, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The disgraced national security reporter pleaded guilty in July to two out of three counts in a federal child pornography investigation, according to Daily Beast. Meek requested leniency in his case and reportedly partially blamed reporting on war and torture for his child pornography habit. Prosecutors were vying for a maximum 16-year term, while Meek requested a five-year sentence, Daily Beast noted.
Ex-ABC News reporter James Gordon Meek should get up to 15 years for ‘sadistic’ child porn case: feds https://t.co/VLYo2QTVJS pic.twitter.com/4TuqJdSur0
— New York Post (@nypost) September 26, 2023
Court documents revealed Meek used an iPhone messaging app to receive videos of child sex acts and participated in discussions about his sexual interest in children, per the press release.
“Some of the images and videos depicted prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12, including an infant being raped,” the press release noted.
“Meek brought the iPhone containing the child sexual abuse material back with him when he returned to Virginia. Additionally, Meek possessed multiple electronic devices containing images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” the press release continued. (RELATED: Comedian Busted With 35,000 Child Abuse Images Doesn’t Get Jail Time)
The FBI raided Meek’s home in April 2022. He was arrested in February 2023. He initially faced one federal count of transporting child pornography but was later indicted on charges of possession and distribution of child porn, per the Daily beast.
His plea agreement led to the distribution charge being dropped. The other two charges carried the possibility of a 20-year sentence, according to Daily Beast.
