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Former ABC News producer James Gordon Meek is asking for leniency from the judge who will sentence him this week, arguing that his war and torture reporting laid the groundwork for his child-pornography habit.
“While the foregoing issues by no means excuse Mr. Meek’s conduct, they help to explain the constellation of factors that compromised his decision-making and contributed to conduct that was completely out of step with his history of kindness and service to others,” Meek’s lawyer, Eugene Gorokhov, wrote in a court filing that asked for a maximum prison term of five years.
Meek, who pleaded guilty to hoarding the most vile images showing children being sexually assaulted, tried to bolster his argument with supportive letters from ex-military officials and journalism colleagues. They include Andrew Fredericks, a documentarian who promised to “stand will [sic] by him, and try to help him overcome and grow” and former Washington Post reporter Allan Lengel, who wrote that he worked to reconcile Meek’s crimes and “came to accept the situation, and still care deeply about James as a friend and remain supportive as he makes his journey through the criminal justice system.”