ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A former investigative journalist for ABC Information was sentenced Friday to 6 years in federal jail for possessing and transporting little one sexual abuse photos.
James Gordon Meek, of Arlington, Virginia, pleaded responsible in July, admitting in a plea settlement that he used an iPhone to trade illicit supplies throughout a chat session with two different folks, together with a video displaying the sexual abuse of an toddler.
Court docket paperwork say an investigation started when the FBI acquired a tip from Dropbox about movies displaying the sexual abuse of youngsters in an account related to Meek. An FBI affidavit stated brokers discovered dozens of kid sexual abuse photos and movies once they searched Meek’s dwelling final yr, going again to no less than 2014.
Meek joined ABC Information’ Washington bureau as an investigative producer in 2013 and lined nationwide safety points till he resigned final yr. He beforehand labored for the New York Day by day Information and in addition served as a senior counterterrorism adviser and investigator for the U.S. Home Committee on Homeland Safety.
Prosecutors sought a sentence of between 12 1/2 years and almost 16 years, a variety calculated in a pre-sentence investigation report. Meek’s legal professional, Eugene Gorokhov, requested for the necessary minimal sentence of 5 years. Gorokhov stated the six-year sentence imposed by Decide Claude Hilton acknowledges ”that Mr. Meek’s worst moments don’t outline him.”
Meek learn a prolonged assertion in courtroom through which he apologized for his crimes.
”To these whose victimization I’ve contributed to with every click on on-line, I encourage you to forgive me. I’m sincerely sorry for all I’ve finished so egregiously unsuitable, which has prompted a lot hurt to you,” he stated.
