Former ABC News reporter James Gordon Meek was hit with a child pornography charge by federal authorities in Virginia on Wednesday — months after the FBI raided his home and seized his laptop and other electronic devices.
Meek — an Emmy Award-winning journalist who abruptly resigned from the network following the October 2022 raid — was charged with one count of transportation of child pornography by federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia.
In an affidavit unsealed Wednesday, the feds detailed disgusting communications the national security journalist allegedly had with other friends online.
FBI agents said they found a cache of horrific images and texts Meek exchanged on Kik and other messaging apps after seizing one of his iPhones when they searched his house in Arlington, Va.
Meek allegedly chatted under the username “Pawny4” to send sadistic messages to other users, FBI Special Agent Tonya Sturgill Griffith wrote in the affidavit.
“Have you ever raped a toddler girl? It’s amazing,” Pawny4 wrote in one of the messages.
Other devices seized from Meek’s house had similar communications and dozens of images of child pornography, according to the affidavit.
News of the federal raid on Meek’s address touched off a number of news articles and speculation that he may have been targeted because of his work as an investigative reporter.
An attorney for Meek did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.