CNN Fires Senior Producer Charged With Luring Minors for Sex

The CNN center is seen in downtown Atlanta, Ga., on Oct. 16, 2021. Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images

CNN confirmed it has fired John Griffin, a long-time staffer producer who was indicted last week under the charges he tried to lure minors for sex.

“The charges against Mr. Griffin are deeply disturbing. We learned of his arrest Friday afternoon and terminated his employment today,” a CNN spokesperson told Fox News and the Hearst Connecticut Media Group. CNN had not returned a request for comment on Tuesday.

Griffin, 44, was charged Dec. 10 with three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity. The FBI announced the charges against Griffin, who had worked on CNN’s “New Day,” in a Twitter post on Friday afternoon.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont said in the Department of Justice news release that Griffin “sought to persuade parents to allow him to train their daughters to be sexually submissive.” According to charging documents, Griffin acquired a Vermont ski house in February 2020 and “offered to host mothers and their minor daughters at this location for purposes” for alleged sexual misconduct.

During an incident in July 2020, Griffin allegedly picked up a woman and her 9-year-old daughter after they flew from Nevada to Boston’s airport “and drove them to his Ludlow house,” the Department of Justice’s news release said. “At the house, the daughter was directed to engage in, and did engage in, unlawful sexual activity.”

The indictment also detailed “specific allegations that Griffin attempted to entice two other children over the internet to engage in sexual activity,” the agency said in the release.

Griffin faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison to life in prison on each of the three charges, according to the Department of Justice.

“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,” the FBI said in its statement last week. “The FBI, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to aggressively investigate those who victimize the most vulnerable in our communities.”

CNN, which produced an article on Griffin’s arrest, confirmed that he worked at the network for about eight years. A spokesperson said that when his arrest was announced, the network suspended him.

According to a LinkedIn profile, Griffin had worked for ABC News for about seven years before he joined CNN in April 2013. Before ABC, he worked for Fox News for about three years, the profile shows.

The Epoch Times contacted Joseph Martini, one of his attorneys, for comment on his termination.