Former CNN Producer Sentenced to 19 Years In Prison For Coercing 9-Year-Old Into Sex Acts

Vermont State Police via AP

Former CNN producer John Griffin was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to coercing a minor into sexual activity.

According to reports, Griffin was sentenced in Vermont to more than 19 years in prison on Tuesday. He will also be subject to 15 years of supervision following his release.

Griffin — who worked for CNN between 2013 and his arrest in December 2021 — pleaded guilty in December 2022 to coercing a 9-year-old girl into sexual activity. Two further charges of enticing a minor were dropped as part of his plea deal.

According to his indictment, Griffin “utilized the messaging applications Kik and Google Hangouts” to try to “persuade parents to allow him to train their daughters to be sexually submissive.” The Department said:

In June 2020, Griffin advised a mother of 9- and 13-year-old daughters that the mother’s responsibility was to see that her older daughter was “trained properly.” Griffin later transferred over $3,000 to the mother for plane tickets so the mother and her 9-year-old daughter could fly from Nevada to Boston’s Logan Airport. The mother and child flew to Boston in July of 2020, where Griffin picked them up in his Tesla and drove them to his Ludlow house. At the house, the daughter was directed to engage in, and did engage in, unlawful sexual activity.

At the time of his arrest, a CNN spokesperson said, “We take the charges against Mr. Griffin incredibly seriously… We only learned of his arrest this afternoon and have suspended him pending investigation.”