John Griffin, a veteran CNN producer who used to work together with US television journalist Chris Cuomo, has been charged with allegedly luring young girls to his Vermont ski house for "sexual subservience" training.
Griffin reportedly used messaging apps to befriend and persuade mothers of young girls, and told them that "a woman is a woman regardless of her age". He also told the mothers that he should "train" their daughters sexually. According to the indictment from the US Attorney of Vermont, the 44-year-old Griffin had convinced at least one mother of two daughters to bring his girl to the former's Ludlow ski getaway in June 2020. Griffin told the lady that it would be her responsibility to see that her older daughter, aged 13, was "trained properly".
Griffin also sent the woman $3,000 for flight tickets so that they could travel from Nevada to Boston. He picked them up from the airport in his Tesla for the ride to Ludlow. On Friday (December 10), the FBI agents arrested Griffin after a Federal Grand Jury in Vermont charged him with three counts of attempting to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity. The concerned authorities in Vermont claimed that "the daughter was directed to engage in, and did engage in, unlawful sexual activity" in the northeastern state.
Furthermore, Griffin reportedly made an attempt to entice two other children over the internet into sexual activity, as he used to favor apps, such as Kik and Google Hangout, for committing the crime. In April 2020, Griffin reportedly suggested a "virtual training session" over a video chat, instructing a mother and her 14-year-old daughter to remove their clothing and touch each other body parts. Later in June 2020, the accused told another mum of a 16-year-old girl to take a "little mother-daughter trip" to his Ludlow ski house for sexual training.
On his LinkedIn profile, Griffin claimed that he worked "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". He also described himself as an "entrepreneurial producer", with a knowledge of combining uncommon technical skills with exceptional, experience-honed editorial judgment.
Now, the US Government can seize Griffin property, where he had committed the alleged crimes, including the Ludlow ski house, Tesla and a Mercedes. He could also face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in jail.
