Stamford Man Accused Of Luring Minors To Engage In Sex Acts: Feds

STAMFORD, CT — John Griffin, 44, of Stamford, a CNN producer, was arrested by the FBI on Dec. 10 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.

The FBI's Albany office announced the arrest last Friday in a tweet.

"The allegations are deeply disturbing, and our office is committed to working with our partners at the United States Attorney's Office District of Vermont to ensure Mr. Griffin is held accountable for his actions," said Special FBI Agent in Charge Janeen DiGuiseppi in a statement. "The FBI, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to aggressively investigate those who victimize the most vulnerable in our communities."

According to his LinkedIn profile, Griffin started working for CNN as a producer in April 2013. His profile says he is the lead anchor's senior producer for "New Day", CNN's flagship morning program.

Griffin wrote that he "works shoulder-to-shoulder with lead anchor Chris Cuomo, seeing him through each show and producing live breaking news across the country and around the world."

Cuomo was recently fired by CNN for his role in helping his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his sexual harassment scandal, the NY Times reported.

The CT Post reported on Monday that CNN fired Griffin after learning of his arrest. Patch has reached out to CNN for more information

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Vermont and the indictment, from April to July 2020, Griffin utilized the messaging applications Kik and Google Hangouts to persuade parents to allow him to train their daughters 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, where Griffin picked them up in his Tesla and drove them to his Ludlow, Vt. ski house.

The CT Post reported that according to property records, Griffin bought the Ludlow home through an LLC in February 2018.

At the house, the daughter engaged in unlawful sexual activity, the indictment said.

The indictment also includes specific allegations that Griffin attempted to entice two other children over the internet to engage in sexual activity.

In April 2020, the indictment said, Griffin proposed to engage in a "virtual training session" over a video chat that would include him instructing the mother and her 14-year-old daughter to remove their clothes.

In June 2020, Griffin suggested to a purported mother of a 16-year-old daughter that she take a "little mother-daughter trip" to Griffin’s Ludlow house for sexual training involving the child, the indictment said.

Griffin faces 10-years-to-life on each count if convicted, prosecutors said, adding that the indictment includes a notice that the federal government intends to seek the forfeiture of Griffin’s Ludlow house, his Tesla, a Mercedes and other property.