CNN fires senior producer charged with inducing minors for sex
CNN: The charges against Mr. Griffin are deeply disturbing'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WARNING: SOME DETAILS FROM INDICTMENT MAY BE DISTURBING
CNN fired senior producer John Griffin on Monday after he was arrested last week for shocking sex crimes with young girls, Fox News Digital has learned.
Griffin, a senior producer for CNN's long-struggling morning program "New Day," was arrested on Friday by the FBI and charged by a grand jury in Vermont "with three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN PRODUCER, FORMER CHRIS CUOMO STAFFER ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY INDUCING MINORS FOR SEX
CNN initially said Griffin would be suspended pending an investigation, but he was since terminated by the network.
CNN fired senior producer John Griffin on Monday. (LinkedIn)
"The charges against Mr. Griffin are deeply disturbing. We learned of his arrest Friday afternoon and terminated his employment Monday," a CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Griffin’s attorney declined comment.
Griffin was taken into custody following a federal indictment accusing him of coercing parents to allow their minor daughters to engage in sexual activity in his home.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Vermont wrote in a statement that Griffin "sought to persuade parents to allow him to train their daughters to be sexually submissive."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The indictment provides lewd particulars of crimes allegedly committed by Griffin. The indictment includes various messages Griffin sent via Kik, Google Hangouts, and texts.
The now-former CNN producer stated he believes there is a "wanton whore" at "the core of any" female and that "a woman is a woman regardless of her age," according to messages included in the indictment.
CHARGES AGAINST CNN PRODUCER ACCUSED OF INDUCING MINORS FOR SEX REVEAL LEWD DETAILS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to the indictment, Griffin sent text messages to a mother of two daughters, ages 9 and 13, which stated, "One of the big lies of this society is that women are delicate innocent angels and they are in actuality, naturally, the dirtiest sluts possible, in EVERY metric."
He also allegedly texted the mother, "When handled appropriately, a woman is a woman regardless of her age" and urged the mother to make sure her 13-year-old daughter was "trained properly."
The indictment also indicated Griffin bragged about "sexually trained girls as young as 7 years old" and advised a mother that her 14-year-old daughter "would be a good candidate for such training." He allegedly proposed that training would begin on a video chat where he "planned to instruct the 14-year-old and her mother to remove their clothing and touch each other" and eventually declared in-person meetings would include "spanking" and "c--k worship."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}John’s father, Jim Griffin, was among the most powerful people in media for years, earning a fortune as a New York-based talent agent to the stars at William Morris Agency before it merged with Endeavor. His stable of clients included Regis Philbin, Emeril Lagasse, Fred Thompson, Jim Leher, John Gibson, Mike Barnicle, Charles Grodin and Willard Scott, among many other big names who joined him when he jumped to Paradigm following the William Morris-Endeavor merger.
One of Jim Griffin’s other clients was a young Chris Cuomo.
Former CNN host Chris Cuomo. (CNN)
CNN PRODUCER ACCUSED OF CHILD SEX CRIMES ONCE DECRIED GROWING NEWS STORIES OF CHILD ABUSE CASES IN OLD TWEET
John Griffin worked with Cuomo, a "New Day" anchor from its inception in 2013 until he launched his primetime show in 2018. Griffin’s LinkedIn page, which has not been updated since the network fired the former "Cuomo Prime Time" namesake, declared 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."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Griffin and Cuomo had previously worked together at ABC News.
Cuomo’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Vermont, the 44-year-old also "attempted to entice two other children over the internet to engage in sexual activity" and in April 2020, he "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 clothing and touch each other at his direction."
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Additionally, Griffin "proposed to a purported mother of a 16-year-old daughter that she take a ‘little mother-daughter trip’ to Griffin’s Ludlow ski house for sexual training involving the child" in June 2020.
From left, Chris Cuomo, Billy Bush, and Jim Griffin, the father of former CNN producer John Griffin.
The federal government intends to seek the forfeiture of Griffin’s house, Tesla, a Mercedes, and other property such as computers and cameras that were used in the commission of the charged offenses, according to the indictment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Griffin faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for each count, according to the Department of Justice.
Fox News Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.