Feds propose a 15-year jail term for the former ABC News reporter who was found guilt - Printable Version +- EDMW Eat Drink Man Woman Forum edmw (https://edmw.org) +-- Forum: EDMW (https://edmw.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=1) +--- Forum: Eat-Drink-Man-Woman (https://edmw.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=9) +--- Thread: Feds propose a 15-year jail term for the former ABC News reporter who was found guilt (/showthread.php?tid=2358)

Feds propose a 15-year jail term for the former ABC News reporter who was found guilt - tripleyou - 09-27-2023 Feds propose a 15-year jail term for the former ABC News reporter who was found guilty of making "sadistic" child porn James Gordon Meek, a former producer for ABC News, is facing a minimum sentence of five years in jail for over a decade of collecting child porn. 26 September 2023 Federal prosecutors have suggested that a former journalist for ABC News who was found guilty of child pornography should serve 15 years in prison. James Gordan Meek was convicted on federal charges of transferring and having child sex abuse material in July. He had nearly 10 years of experience working for ABC News when an investigation into allegations of his possession of child porn began last year. On Friday, he will be sentenced. While federal prosecutors in court argued that the former ABC reporter should receive between 12 12 and 15 years in prison given the extent of his offences, Meek urged the judge for the lowest sentence of five years for his crimes. Meek's actions were described in court documents that the prosecutors submitted last Friday. They stated that "he clearly sought out individuals across the internet for the specific purpose of sharing (and expanding) his [Child Sexual Abuse Material] collection for his sexual gratification." They mentioned that Meek transmitted and received pornographic material including "infants and toddlers" as well as material "depicting sadistic and masochistic abuse of prepubescent children." Meek requested pornographic photographs from minors while looking for the material, even going so far as to pose "as a minor himself." In text messages with two girls, one 14 years old and the other 15, who provided him images of their breasts, police enforcement allegedly discovered exchanges between the former journalist and them, according to court documents. The identical texts also contained a video of the sender "naked and holding his penis in his hand." The FBI started looking into the former reporter last year after getting a tip that Meek was connected to recordings showing child sexual abuse. After that, Arlington, Virginia police searched his residence. Agents searched for him since 2014 and discovered dozens of child pornographic photos, according to an FBI affidavit. Meek had been an ABC News investigative producer at the time. He had previously worked for the New York Daily News before joining the outlet's Washington office in 2013. Meek also worked for the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security as an investigator and senior counterterrorism adviser. His live coverage of the shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub in 2017 won him an Emmy. Meek left ABC News right away following the raid on his house. In January 2023, he was detained on suspicion of allegedly transporting photographs of child sex abuse. Eugene Gorokhov, Meek's attorney, said in court documents submitted on Monday that the prosecutors' recommendations were "excessive" and sought for no more than the minimum punishment. The defendant is a father of two girls, according to Gorokhov, who argued that "Meek's criminal conduct in this case is completely at odds with his proven personal values." Additionally, the defence attorney claimed that Meek's reporting on the Middle East war on terror had a negative impact on "his mental wealth." It is noteworthy that trauma has been discovered to cause this kind of emotional numbing in addition to an increased propensity for impulsivity, according to Gorokhov. ABC News representatives did not immediately return requests for comment.