CNN producer John Griffin, 44, faces charges for three counts of “using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity,” according to federal prosecutors.
On his LinkedIn profile, Griffin described his history of working “shoulder-to-shoulder with lead anchor Chris Cuomo, seeing him through each show.”
Griffin appeared in federal court on Friday. For now, the court records remain behind a paywall.
However, federal prosecutors put out a press release on Friday… and it’s full of lurid details.
The prosecutors recounted some illicit messages from Kik, a messaging service popular with teenagers.
“Griffin utilized the messaging applications Kik and Google Hangouts to communicate with people purporting to be parents of minor daughters, conveying to them, among other ideas, that a ‘woman is a woman regardless of her age,’ and that women should be sexually subservient and inferior to men,” the prosecutors wrote.
“On these communication platforms, Griffin sought to persuade parents to allow him to train their daughters to be sexually submissive.” According to the press release, Griffin tried twice — unsuccessfully — to persuade minors into sex.
It gets worse. The prosecutors have also accused Griffin of “unlawful sexual activity” with a nine-year-old girl.
According to the press release, Griffin paid for the girl and her mother to fly from Nevada to Boston. Then, he allegedly picked them up in his Tesla, drove them to his house in Vermont, and engaged in sexual relations with the girl.
As a result, the federal government intends to pursue civil asset forfeiture. In other words, the Department of Justice intends to seize Griffin’s Tesla, his Vermont house, and any other property used to commit the alleged crime.
If found guilty, Griffin faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for each count… and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
However, the prosecutor has yet to conclusively prove Griffin’s guilt, and the defense has yet to tell its side of the story publicly.
“An indictment contains allegations only,” the prosecutor’s office specified. “Griffin remains presumed innocent until and unless he is convicted of a crime.”
Griffin has served as a producer on CNN’s New Day since 2013, and Cuomo hosted the program from 2013 to 2018.
Before his stint on New Day, Griffin worked at ABC News, CBS News, and Fox News Channel.
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