A former CNN producer has pleaded guilty to the charges of committing child sex crimes. As part of the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop two out of three charges that stem from his arrest over a year ago pertaining to his involvement with a nine-year-old girl at his Vermont home and possession of illicit photographs.
As part of the plea, disgraced senior producer John Griffin accepted the charge against “using interstate commerce to entice and coerce a 9-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity,” according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press also noted that Griffin “must pay full restitution to the victims, an amount which will be determined by the court”; moreover, he “has agreed to forfeit a Tesla vehicle, and electronic items and to donate half of the proceeds from the sale of his Vermont home and the upcoming sale of a Mercedes vehicle into the court registry.”
The Post Millennial reported that in addition to the forfeiture of his electronic items and the sale of his house, Griffin now faces a lengthy prison sentencing and additional fines.
Griffin’s sentencing is scheduled for March 2023. He faces a minimum of 10 years to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, must pay full restitution to the victims of an amount to be determined by the court. After his prison sentence, he also likely faces supervised release with conditions which include participating in a sex offender treatment and registering as a sex offender and cannot have contact with anyone under the age of 18, except in the presence of probation officer approved adult and will be prohibited from being near schools, playgrounds, theme parks, and other areas where children congregate, unless approved in advance by the probation officer.
According to the federal indictment against Griffin, a grand jury originally found him guilty of three separate charges relating to interstate commerce while attempting to solicit sexual behavior from minors. He coerced parents to bring their young daughters, the aforementioned one nine years of age and yet another just seven years of age, to come to his ski home in Vermont.
The US Attorney’s office in Vermont included in a statement that Griffin “sought to persuade parents to allow him to train their daughters to be sexually submissive.”
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Many of the lurid and disgusting details found within the indictment reveal a pattern of disturbing communications. Using online message platforms such as Google Hangouts, Griffin would tell parents that ‘woman is a woman regardless of her age,’ and that “women should be sexually subservient and inferior to men.”
In one instance, Griffin enabled a family to purchase airfare by sending them thousands of dollars. A mom and daughter duo were picked up by Griffin at the airport and driven to his ski home before directing the daughter to engage in “unlawful sexual activity.”
Fox News reported that the messages also included directions in video chats to both the mothers and daughters to “remove their clothing and touch each other.” There was also drone footage, apparently captured by Griffin himself, in which he could be seen standing next to a naked nine-year-old girl while he was in his underwear.
Featured image: Vermont State Police.