The disgraced former CNN producer who pleaded guilty last year to sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl was sentenced on Tuesday to more than 19 years in prison during a U.S. District Court hearing in Vermont, according to federal authorities.
John Griffin, 45, of Norwalk, Connecticut, pleaded guilty in federal court in December after a federal grand jury charged him with multiple counts of using interstate commerce to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity at his Vermont ski house.
BREAKING: A former CNN television producer, John Griffin who had pleaded guilty to luring a 9-year-old girl into illegal sexual acts was sentenced to 19 years in prison and an additional 15 years of supervised release. pic.twitter.com/rDNYPTNQoR
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“Leveraging his personal wealth, John Griffin targeted and sought to abuse vulnerable young girls,” U.S. Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest said in a news release.
According to court records, Griffin contacted the parents of girls younger than 18 through online messaging apps Kik and Google Hangouts and persuaded them to allow him to train their daughters in sexual submission.
In July 2020, Griffin paid a Nevada mother and her 9-year-old daughter, whom he met online, more than $3,000 to fly to Boston, Massachusetts’ Logan Airport, and drove them to his house in Ludlow, Vermont. Griffin told authorities that he engaged in “sexual training” of the child, which included forcing the minor female to perform a sex act with him and using the child to engage in bondage and sadomasochistic activity.
The girl and her grandmother took part in the hearing Tuesday via video, according to local media.
“The child that you raped was my granddaughter,” the grandmother said to Griffin, “You forever ruined a 9-year-old girl.”
The girl told the judge that she will “never trust anyone again.”
“You make me sad and angry,” she told Griffin.
According to a statement from the Department of Justice issued last year, Griffin told people purporting to be parents of minor children that a “woman is a woman regardless of her age,” and that women should be sexually subservient and inferior to men.
“Mr. Griffin preyed on a vulnerable woman and her child, using his wealth to lure them to his home to manipulate and sexually exploit them,” Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Albany Field Office Janeen DiGuiseppi said. “This sentence reinforces the message that the victimization of children will not be tolerated by law enforcement, and the FBI will continue to work with our partners at the United States Attorney’s Office to ensure justice is served to those who cause irreparable harm and trauma to these innocent young victims.”
Authorities ordered Griffin to pay approximately $1.1 million in restitution to the child victim and forfeit the Tesla he used to transport the girl and her mother from Boston to Vermont, among other items.
Federal authorities dropped two remaining counts of enticement of a minor against Griffin as part of a plea deal in 2022.
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Griffin’s LinkedIn account said that he worked on CNN’s “New Day,” which former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo hosted for a number of years before the network gave him a primetime show. Griffin stated on LinkedIn that he worked “shoulder-to-shoulder” with Cuomo and saw “him through each show and producing live breaking news across the country and around the world.”
According to his LinkedIn page, Griffin previously worked as a producer at ABC, Fox News, and CBS.
Griffin also received an additional 15-year supervised release following his prison sentence.
According to The Independent, authorities ordered Griffin can only have contact with people under 18 years old with the presence of another adult approved by a probation officer and cannot be in areas where children congregate, including schools, playgrounds, and theme parks, unless approved by the probation office beforehand.
U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III described Griffin’s conduct as “outrageous” and explained that such conduct warranted a severe penalty.
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this report.