CNN producer John Griffin arrested for trying to persuade a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity
Griffin, 44, was a producer on CNN for about eight years.
A spokesman for the network said in a statement on Saturday: “The allegations against Mr Griffin are very disturbing. “We only learned of his arrest yesterday afternoon and have suspended him pending investigation.”
The allegations stem from conversations between Griffin and the purported parents of his teenage daughters, in which he allegedly tried to convince them to “allow him to train his daughter.” them for sexual submission”, as well as an incident where prosecutors allege illegal sexual activity occurred. with a 9-year-old girl, the report said.
CNN has yet to identify an attorney for Griffin.
According to an indictment filed Thursday, Griffin allegedly paid and kept an online profile on “BDSM, Fetish and Kink Dating Sites” for several years until July 2020, on which he he allegedly wrote that he was looking for “sexually” submissive “and” open-minded women. “
In conversations on separate online platforms, Griffin allegedly said he believed in “a way of life” in which “women are sexually inferior and inferior to men”, according to the report. status. The indictment said he used online platforms to find parents “who would allow him to train their teenage daughters to have lower sexual habits”.
Around February 2020, Griffin allegedly acquired a ski house in Vermont where he offered to house mothers and their teenage daughters for the purpose of “sexual training”, according to the indictment.
Between April and June 2020, prosecutors allege Griffin spoke online with the willful father of a 14-year-old girl and privately the mother of a 16-year-old girl, suggesting they start “sexual training,” the indictment said.
In June and July, Griffin also allegedly spoke online and by phone with someone who claimed to be the mother of two girls, ages 9 and 13, according to the indictment.
Griffin allegedly paid the woman more than $3,000 to take her and her 9-year-old girl to Boston in July, where prosecutors say he picked them up from the airport and took them to the ski house “where the child was instructed to engage. and engaged in illegal sexual activity,” the indictment said.
If convicted, Griffin would face anything from 10 years in prison to life in prison for each count, according to the news release.
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