Former CNN Producer Allegedly Bribed Witness after Luring Children into ‘Sexual Subservience’ Training
Former CNN senior producer John Griffin offered a woman $30,000 to spend a “mother daughter” weekend with him at his Vermont home and later admitted to being “ashamed” when he was arrested for allegedly abusing a 9-year-old girl and baiting other young girls into “sexual subservience” training at his Vermont residence, according to a motion for detention.
“Griffin has tried to deceive, delete, and spend his way out of being held accountable,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont Nikolas Kerest wrote in the motion, which asks the judge to hold Griffin in jail without bail. “He is a wealthy man who will be desperate to avoid facing justice.”
Griffin faces three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity. If found guilty, he could receive a prison sentence between ten years and life, according to the Department of Justice.
Griffin, who was the longtime producer for disgraced CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, allegedly tried to find and persuade women who identified as sexually submissive to allow them to “train” their minor daughters, including some children as young as seven years old, according to the filing obtained by Fox News.
One woman traveled from Nevada with her 9-year-old daughter to stay at Griffin’s Vermont ski house in July 2020, authorities said. During the visit, Griffin viewed “web-pages featuring pornographic videos about sex with mothers and daughters” while the woman and her daughter were in the home.
“The evidence against Griffin also includes a video captured by a drone operated by Griffin as it returned to Griffin’s Ludlow ski house shortly after 5a.m. on July 20, 2020, showing the completely naked nine-year-old girl, standing immediately next to Griffin in his underwear,” the motion reads.
Griffin later exchanged messages with one of the woman’s relatives after the pair returned home. He claimed he didn’t do anything wrong and then sent the relative $4,000 after the relative told him to let him know if he was “feeling helpful within the hour or so.”
“This apparent pay-off of a potential witness is not only further evidence of wrong-doing, it is an independent reason for Griffin’s detention,” the motion reads.
It was not the first time Griffin tried to pay his way out of trouble: in October 2020 he allegedly offered the driver of a vehicle he crashed into while driving drunk cash and a check not to call the police.
After Griffin’s arrest on December 10, he allegedly told authorities: “Without incriminating myself, I just want to let you guys know that I’m ashamed you even know my name at all.”
“In the time I’m with you guys, in the event I do anything inappropriate, I just want you to know that I’d feel the same way you guys would if I were in your situation. Thank you,” he allegedly said.
While Griffin’s attorney initially gave the U.S. attorney letters in support of Griffin written by his wife, father and four of his friends in August 2021, three of the friends and his wife have since withdrawn the letters, the court filing says.
“One friend explained that he was ‘blatantly lied to’ about the nature of the investigation when he agreed to write on Griffin’s behalf,” the filing said.
News of Griffin’s alleged crimes comes after Cuomo was suspended and later fired from CNN for his role in helping his brother, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, navigate his sexual assault scandal. CNN reportedly learned of a sexual misconduct allegation against Chris Cuomo days before it fired the anchor.
