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Former ABC News investigative journalist James Gordon Meek was arrested Tuesday on criminal charges related to alleged transportation of images of child sex abuse, according to the Department of Justice.
Meek is charged with transportation of child pornography and faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted. Meek allegedly "engaged in sexually explicit conversations where the participants expressed enthusiasm for the sexual abuse of children" and had devices containing such images.
Meek abruptly resigned from the Disney-owned network following an FBI raid of his Arlington, Virginia, home last year. The sudden resignation of Meek, who regularly worked on sensitive stories while working as a national-security investigative producer for ABC News, baffled media insiders who thought the raid could have been tied to his work.
Former ABC News investigate reporter James Gordon Meek. (Twitter/James Gordon Meek)
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PREPPING INDICTMENT AGAINST EX-ABC NEWS PRODUCER JAMES GORDON MEEK: REPORT
The Justice Department issued a press release Wednesday that finally shed light on the mysterious raid of the journalist's home. The DOJ announced an investigation into Meek initiated from a lead sent by Dropbox, which was eventually received by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
"That lead ultimately led to a court-authorized search of Meek’s residence in April 2022 by members of the task force, where law enforcement seized multiple devices that allegedly contained evidence of the transportation of images of child sexual abuse," the Justice Department announced.
"According to court documents, several of Meek’s devices allegedly contained images depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and multiple chat conversations with users engaged in sexually explicit conversations where the participants expressed enthusiasm for the sexual abuse of children. In two of those conversations, a username allegedly associated with Meek received and distributed child sexual abuse materials through an internet-based messaging platform," the DOJ continued.
Former ABC News investigative reporter James Gordon Meek abruptly resigned from the Disney-owned network earlier this year. (ABC)
ABC NEWS REPORTER JAMES GORDON MEEK ‘RESIGNED VERY ABRUPTLY’ FOLLOWING ALLEGED FBI RAID OF HOME
The 15-page affidavit includes extremely disturbing details, including a video found on Meek's phone of the alleged rape of an infant.
ABC News declined comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
Meek has not tweeted since April 27, the day the raid occurred.
The case against Meek was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the DOJ to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, the department announced.
Meek’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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