Prosecutor: Ex-CNN staffer bribed girl’s family after sex abuse
A Connecticut man accused of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl bribed the child’s family with an apparent $4,000 payoff weeks after she and her adoptive mother stayed at his Vermont ski home, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a motion this week to prevent the former CNN producer from being released.
John Griffin, 44, of Stamford, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in federal court in Burlington, Vt., to three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity.
District Judge Judge William K. Sessions III granted the prosecution’s motion to keep Griffin detained, which his attorney, David Kirby, did not oppose.
Kirby declined to comment in an email to Hearst Connecticut Media on Wednesday.
Leading up to the hearing, Nikolas P. Kerest, U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, filed a motion requesting Griffin remain in federal custody, claiming he is a potential flight risk.
“Griffin has tried to deceive, delete and spend his way out of being held accountable,” Kerest wrote in the motion. “He is a wealthy man who will be desperate to avoid facing justice.”
In the motion, Kerest pointed out that Griffin purchased a ski home last year in Ludlow, Vt., where he tried to lure women and their daughters to “train” the underage girls in sexual submission, for $1.8 million without a mortgage. Kerest also noted that Griffin boasted to federal agents that his estate is worth between $35 million and $40 million.
Kerest said Griffin sent $4,000 to bribe a family member of a Nevada 9-year-old girl who was forced to engage in sexual activity with her adoptive mother and Griffin at his Vermont home last summer, Kerest said.
“This apparent pay-off of a potential witness is not only further evidence of wrongdoing, it is an independent reason for Griffin’s detention,” Kerest wrote in the motion. “Indeed, making payments to a potential witness in an apparent effort to buy their silence itself justifies Griffin’s pre-trial detention.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Griffin in New Haven on Dec. 10. He appeared in New Haven federal court that day before being transferred to Vermont where he remains held without bond.
Griffin worked at CNN since 2013 until he was fired Dec. 13. Once a producer for the Chris Cuomo show, Griffin was most recently a senior producer for CNN political analyst John Avlon.
According to his indictment, Griffin tried to lure women to his Vermont ski home to “train their minor daughters in sexual submission.” Griffin told one parent that he trained girls as young as 7 years old, the court documents state.
Griffin paid a Nevada woman $3,350 to travel with her 9year-old daughter to Vermont where they forced the child to engage in sex acts, Kerest said. The girl was also left alone with Griffin when her adoptive mother was twice hospitalized for “unknown” reasons during the weeklong visit in July 2020, according to court documents.
After they returned home, a family member of the girl contacted Griffin, pointing out how the child recalled what happened when she visited him, Kerest said. A short while later, Griffin sent the relative $4,000 via Venmo, Kerest stated in the motion.
The girl’s adoptive mother, 48, whose name Hearst Connecticut Media Group is withholding to protect her daughter’s identity, is facing child abuse and sexual assault charges in Nevada in connection with the trip to Vermont and other alleged incidents when she forced the girl into sexual activity, court documents state.
In his motion, Kerest referenced the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases to support his argument for Griffin to remain behind bars.
Kerest also stated Griffin offered $30,000 for what he described as “a mother-daughter weekend or week with me.” He also offered a woman $1,200 for sex, and then upped the price to $5,000 if her kids were in the room, Kerest stated.
“As the indictment explains, John Griffin repeatedly sought to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce minor girls to be trained by him to be sexually subservient,” Kerest stated in the motion.
Kerest stated Griffin’s attorney submitted letters in August from his wife, father and four friends, vouching for his character in an effort to avoid charges being filed. However, Kerest stated Griffin’s estranged wife and three of his friends have since withdrawn their letters of support.
“One friend explained that he was ‘blatantly lied to’ about the nature of the investigation when he agreed to write on Griffin’s behalf,” Kerest stated.
Griffin and his wife have three young children, “whose welfare has been investigated,” Kerest stated. The couple has been separated for two years and Griffin has since moved from the family’s Rowayton home to Stamford.
“Unlike the overwhelming majority of criminal defendants who come before the Court, Griffin has enjoyed rarefied privilege and a place in wealthy society,” Kerest stated. “He faces not only a substantial loss of liberty, but also extraordinary reputational loss. It appears he has no law-abiding community to return to.”