Former CNN Producer Accused Of Luring Minors Offered Plea Deal

STAMFORD, CT — John Griffin, a Stamford resident and former CNN producer accused of luring young girls to his Vermont ski home to engage in sex acts, has been offered a plea deal, according to Hearst Connecticut Media Group.

No deal has been reached yet, Hearst reported, and terms of the plea agreement haven't been disclosed.

Griffin was arrested by the FBI on Dec. 10, 2021, after a federal grand jury in Vermont charged him with three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Vermont and an indictment from last December, from April to July 2020, Griffin utilized the messaging applications Kik and Google Hangouts to persuade parents to bring their young daughters to his Ludlow, V.t. ski house so he could "train" children to be sexually submissive.

In June 2020, Griffin told a mother of 9-and 13-year-old daughters that the mother's responsibility was to see that her older daughter was "trained properly", the indictment said.

Prosecutors said Griffin sent $3,000 to the mother for plane tickets so the mother and her 9-year-old daughter could fly from Nevada to Boston's Logan International Airport.

The indictment said the mother and child flew to Boston in July 2020. Griffin picked them up in his Tesla and drove them to his ski house, where the child engaged in unlawful sexual activity, the indictment said.

Hearst reported the victim, now 11, and her guardian are suing Griffin.

The child's adoptive mother who brought the girl from Nevada has pleaded guilty to attempted lewdness with a child under the age of 14, Hearst said, noting that the woman was sentenced in Nevada in April.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Griffin started working for CNN as a producer in April 2013. He was fired in December after CNN learned of his arrest, the CT Post reported.

Read more from Hearst on Griffin.