James Gordon Meek, Transporting Images of Child Sexual Abuse, Virginia 2022

A Virginia man has been arrested and charged with a serious crime that could land him in prison for up to 20 years. James Gordon Meek, 53, of Arlington, Virginia, was taken into custody last night on criminal charges related to the alleged transportation of images depicting the sexual abuse of children.

According to court documents, the investigation into Meek’s activities was initiated from an investigative lead sent by Dropbox and ultimately received by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. That lead 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 investigation found that 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.

Meek is charged with transportation of child pornography. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr., U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division made the announcement.

Meek’s case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Whitney Kramer of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Bedell for the Eastern District of Virginia. The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with significant assistance from the Arlington County Police Department.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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