James Gordon Meek, a former investigative journalist with far-left ABC News, has been sentenced to only six years in prison in a child porn case, a crime with a maximum penalty of 20 years or more.<\/p>\n
James Gordon Meek, 54, was sentenced to 72 months in prison after being found guilty of sending and receiving sexually explicit content involving prepubescent minors. Federal prosecutors had initially pushed for a sentence ranging between 12 and a half to 15 years for the disgraced journalist.<\/p>\n
As\u00a0<\/span>reported\u00a0<\/span><\/a>last year, Emmy-winning investigative journalist James Meek went missing after the FBI raided his Virginia home and seized classified information from his laptop in April 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n According to DOJ<\/a> citing court documents, \u201cwhile visiting South Carolina in February 2020, James Gordon Meek, 53, used an online messaging platform on his iPhone to send and receive images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and to discuss his sexual interest in children. Some of the images and videos depicted prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12, including an infant being raped. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u00a0<\/span>pleaded guilty<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in July to transporting and possessing child sexual abuse material.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Federal prosecutors Zoe Bedell and Whitney Kramer have presented a strong case against Meek, detailing his disturbing activities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to court filings, Meek actively sought out individuals online to share and expand his collection of child sexual abuse material for his own sexual gratification. The material he traded involved infants and toddlers and depicted \u201csadistic and masochistic abuse of prepubescent children.\u201d<\/p>\n Meek also participated in a chat group with a disturbing name and used the affection of an underage girl for a public figure to manipulate her into sending explicit images. His phone contained screenshots of messages exchanged with minors, and he was seen on video in compromising positions.<\/p>\n Federal prosecutors emphasized the long-lasting impact of Meek\u2019s actions on victims, stating that victims of child pornography suffer even more than regular abuse victims. This is because the material can exist on the internet indefinitely, continually victimizing them.<\/p>\n However, Meek has requested the judge for a minimum sentence of five years, but federal guidelines suggest a range between 12.5 and 15 years,\u00a0New York Post<\/a>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n Eugene Gorokhov, Meek\u2019s attorney, has argued for the lightest sentence possible, stating that the guideline range is \u201cexcessive.\u201d<\/p>\n Gorokhov, argued that his client should receive no more than the minimum sentence, stating that Meek\u2019s criminal conduct was completely at odds with his proven personal values. He also suggested that Meek\u2019s coverage of the war on terror in the Middle East had affected \u2018his mental health.\u2019<\/p>\n The Post reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Meek\u2019s lawyer, Eugene Gorokhov,\u00a0asked for the lightest sentence possible<\/a>, calling the guideline range \u201cexcessive,\u201d according to partially redacted court papers filed Monday.<\/p>\n Meek\u2019s lack of criminal history, the good deeds in his life and his remorse and total acceptance of responsibility all warrant leniency, Gorokhov wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cMeek\u2019s criminal conduct in this case is completely at odds with his proven personal values,\u201d the lawyer wrote.<\/p>\n Meek \u2014 who is divorced \u2014 is the \u201cdoting father\u201d of two daughters, ages 16 and 20, who have suffered \u201cpain and embarrassment\u201d from his actions.<\/p>\n He \u201chas lost nearly everything,\u201d with his reputation and financial well-being destroyed, his family being subjected to the scandal and many of his friends cutting ties with him, Gorokhov wrote.<\/p>\n Images of child pornography are not protected under First Amendment rights, and are illegal contraband under federal law.<\/p>\n According to DOJ<\/a>, \u201ccertain activities relating to material involving the sexual exploitation of minors (Possession, distribution and receipt of child pornography), faces fines and a statutory minimum of 5 years to 20 years maximum in prison.\u00a0 Convicted offenders may face harsher penalties if the offender has prior convictions or if the child pornography offense occurred in aggravated situations defined as (i) the images are violent, sadistic, or masochistic in nature, (ii) the minor was sexually abused, or (iii) the offender has prior convictions for child sexual exploitation. \u00a0In these circumstances, a convicted offender may face up to life imprisonment.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Disgraced Ex-ABC News Reporter James Gordon Meek Sentenced to Only Six Years in \u201cSadistic\u201d Child Pornography Case Involving Infants and Toddlers \u2013 Dodges Maximum 20-Year Penalty<\/a> appeared first on The Gateway Pundit<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" James Gordon Meek, a former investigative journalist with far-left ABC News, has been sentenced to only six years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n