The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)

Records: Ex-CNN staffer offered deal in sex ‘training’ case

- By Lisa Backus

The fired CNN producer from Connecticu­t accused of luring young girls and their mothers to a Vermont ski home for “sexual training” has been offered a plea deal by federal prosecutor­s, court documents show.

John Griffin, a Stamford resident, has been held by federal authoritie­s since his indictment in December on three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

Griffin was fired from his job as a CNN producer after the indictment. He is also being sued by an 11year-old victim and her guardian who claim the girl was forced to commit sex acts while she was at his home in Ludlow, Vt. The child was 9 when the incidents allegedly occurred in July 2020, court documents said.

The child's adoptive mother who brought the girl from their Nevada home to visit Griffin has pleaded guilty to attempted lewdness with a child under the age of 14, attempted sexual assault and child abuse. Hearst Connecticu­t Media Group is withholdin­g the woman's name to protect the child's identity.

The woman was sentenced in April to eight to 20 years in prison on each count in Nevada, court records show. The woman is also required to register as a sex offender and have lifetime supervisio­n, court records show. She was arrested about 18 months before Griffin was charged.

According to federal court documents, Griffin is going through a divorce and dealing with the lawsuit while in custody on the federal charges. His wife was not accused of wrongdoing and has not been charged.

Griffin's attorney in the federal case, David Kirby, was granted a 45-day extension so he could discuss the plea agreement with his client later this summer. In court documents, Kirby said he will be involved in another trial for three to four weeks beginning Wednesday and will not be able to discuss the plea deal and “its ramificati­ons” with Griffin until the trial is complete.

“This case may be resolved by plea, but substantia­l consultati­ons with Mr. Griffin are required to determine if that will be the case,” Kirby said in a motion seeking a 45-day continuanc­e. A U.S. District Judge in Vermont granted the request, moving the date for motions to Aug. 4. The terms of the plea agreement have not been disclosed.

While an agreement has not yet been reached in the lawsuit, the parties have agreed that Griffin's attorney, Robert Berke, will set aside a particular dollar amount in the event that a settlement or a verdict takes place, court documents indicate. Due to the victim's age, the amount is sealed, court documents said.

There is also a hold on the plaintiffs seeking any evidence directly related to Griffin, including testimony during deposition­s until the federal charges have been resolved, court documents said. Griffin would have had to plead the 5th Amendment during deposition­s due to the pending criminal charges, Berke said Monday. Berke estimated that it could take 12 to 18 months to resolve the federal charges before the lawsuit can move forward.

Griffin, a former Norwalk resident, was once a producer for the Chris Cuomo show and was most recently a producer for CNN senior political analyst John Avlon.

The 10-page indictment issued by a Grand Jury alleges that Griffin frequently used Kik, a messaging applicatio­n, and Google Hangouts to lure mothers with young daughters to meet him at the Vermont ski house he had bought with his wife to provide “sexual training” on how to be “submissive” to men. Griffin boasted during internet chats that he had trained girls as young as 7 years old, federal authoritie­s said.

He sent a total of $3,350 to the adoptive mother of the 9-year-old for the two to travel from Nevada to Boston where Griffin picked them up and drove them to his Vermont home, court documents said. At the Vermont ski house, “the child was directed to engage in and did engage in illegal sexual activity,” the indictment said.

Federal authoritie­s are seeking to seize any assets Griffin owned, including properties, vehicles and computers that may have been used in the commission of a crime.

The victim and her guardian who are called Jane Doe and Janet Doe in court documents contend that Griffin “repeatedly sexually abused” the 9year-old at the Vermont house and she has endured mental suffering, including humiliatio­n and anxiety that will likely impact her future earnings. The child is now living in Connecticu­t with a guardian, court documents said.

 ?? Vermont State Police ?? John Griffin, a resident of Stamford, has been offered a plea deal on federal charges that include having a Nevada woman bring her 9-year-old daughter to Vermont where authoritie­s said they engaged in unlawful sexual activity at his Ludlow ski house.
Vermont State Police John Griffin, a resident of Stamford, has been offered a plea deal on federal charges that include having a Nevada woman bring her 9-year-old daughter to Vermont where authoritie­s said they engaged in unlawful sexual activity at his Ludlow ski house.

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