Former ABC News producer charged with child pornography offenses

A former ABC News producer was arrested Tuesday on charges of transportation of child pornography, newly unsealed court records show.

A criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Virginia alleges James Gordon Meek, who resigned from ABC News in April last year, engaged in sexually graphic and explicit conversations as he received and shared images of child sexual abuse dating back to as far as 2014.

The complaint states that Meek's residence was searched on April 27 last year after a tip was sent to the FBI Washington Field Office's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The tip reported child pornography had been found in a Dropbox cloud storage account and that a username associated with the account was Meek's.

During the search of his residence, law enforcement seized an iPhone as well as an external hard drive that allegedly contained hundreds of images depicting children engaged in sexual acts, according to the complaint. Meek is also alleged to have participated in group chats where users exchanged pictures and videos of child pornography.

A review of Meek's Snapchat account on the iPhone, according to the affidavit, also revealed Meek communicated with an unidentified minor who he allegedly pressured to provide him with sexually explicit pictures.

"Review of the electronic devices seized during the search warrant has also resulted in significant evidence that MEEK has engaged directly, and attempted to engage, with minors online on platforms and applications other than Snapchat," the affidavit said.

Law enforcement additionally found a laptop in Meek's residence that contained approximately 90 images and videos of child pornography, the affidavit alleged.

An attorney for Meek did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.

A spokesperson for ABC News declined to comment on the criminal complaint.

Meek is scheduled to make an initial appearance Wednesday before a magistrate judge in Alexandria, Virginia, and has not entered a plea in this case.