Meek– who resigned abruptly from the network after the raid last spring– was arrested late Tuesday night and charged with one count of transportation of child pornography by federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia.
If convicted, he faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years, the Department of Justice said in a statement.
Also on the phone, Meek was found to have received and sent child porn images and videos through the messaging app Kik.
In one particularly disturbing exchange with an unidentified user, Meek allegedly asked “Have you ever raped a toddler girl? It’s amazing.”
“It’s my [sic] dream,” the user replied.
A picture of Sienna Park Apartments in Arlington, Virginia.
In an affidavit unsealed Wednesday, FBI Special Agent Tonya Sturgill Griffith explained that the investigation into Meek’s online activities started in March 2021, when Dropbox alerted authorities to child porn stored in the veteran journalist’s account.
A search warrant was executed at Meek’s Arlington home on April 27, 2022, when investigators seized several devices including an iPhone 8.
“The iPhone 8 contained three chat conversations in which the username ‘Pawny4’ was engaging in sexually explicit conversations where the participants expressed enthusiasm for the sexual abuse of children,” Griffith wrote.
Law enforcement seized multiple devices found during a court-authorized search of Meek's residence in April 2022, several of which allegedly contained images depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
The Arlington resident, known by some for breaking several high-profile terrorism and national security-related stories, resides on the top floor of a luxury apartment building.
He was taken into custody on Tuesday night, according to authorities. As we previously learned, Meek departed from ABC right after the raid.
A spokesperson for the network previously told Rolling Stone, "He resigned very abruptly and hasn't worked for us for months."
During the search, police discovered further conversations with online users during which the participants "expressed enthusiasm for the sexual abuse of children," according to a press release.
A username allegedly associated with Meek — Pawny4 — is accused of receiving and distributing child sexual abuse materials.
In one described instance, the username engaged in a chat in which he described a fantasy of "abducting, drugging, and raping" a 12-year-old.
Per the FBI affidavit, a girl who was interviewed by authorities "confirmed that Meek and other men had approached her through Snapchat and had pressured her to provide pictures depicting sexually explicit conduct."
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