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John Griffin: CNN producer faces $15M lawsuit for allegedly abusing girl, 9, sexually

Griffin allegedly paid a Nevada woman more than $3,000 to fly to Boston 'for a week of sex crimes that involved her young adopted daughter'

Longtime CNN producer John Griffin has been named in a Connecticut civil lawsuit alleging "despicable acts" of "horrific sexual abuse" and exploitation after he was fired from the network last month over child trafficking allegations.

Griffin, 44, was arrested last month for grooming minors for sex and for attempting to entice other minors on the Internet into sexual activity. Griffin, who worked closely with disgraced anchor Chris Cuomo, reportedly invited a nine-year-old with his mother to his Vermont ski home, before he asked the latter to "engage in, and did engage in unlawful sexual activity." MEAWW previously reported how Griffin groomed girls as young as seven to be submissive while believing, "a woman is a woman regardless of her age" and that every woman has a "wonton w**re at her core."

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"For several years prior to 2020, the defendant solicited young girls, including the minor plaintiff, for the purpose of knowingly persuading, inducing, enticing and coercing them to engage in sexual activity, sexual exploitation, and/or sexual trafficking," according to the lawsuit filed last week in Bridgeport, Fox News reported.

Griffin faces one trafficking charge along with two counts of attempted trafficking in federal court in Vermont after he allegedly reached out to parents with underage children. According to the federal indictment, the former producer allegedly invited three women and their underage daughters between April and July 2020 "for the purposes of sexual training." Prosecutors said only one woman from Nevada accepted his offer. According to the report, the lawsuit is filed on behalf of a 9-year-old "Jane Doe" and custodial "next best friend" Janet Doe who are seeking up to $15 million in damages and fees.

Some of the allegations are purportedly similar to those mentioned in a 2020 Nevada criminal complaint against the victim’s adoptive mother and the federal indictment of Griffin announced last month. According to court filings, Griffin allegedly paid a Nevada woman more than $3,000 to fly to Boston and then stay at his multimillion-dollar Vermont vacation home "for a week of sex crimes that involved her young adopted daughter." The evidence against Griffin allegedly includes a drone video he shot of a "completely naked 9-year-old girl" standing next to him in his underwear. "When confronted with this video during an interview by FBI agents, Griffin’s first response was merely to suggest he was not looking at the naked girl, despite that she was standing so close to him to be touching," according to the prosecutor’s pretrial detention memo. Fox News did not reveal the woman's name in order to protect the child victim's identity.

Federal investigators seized electronics and storage devices belonging to Griffin shortly after the woman's arrest in August 2020. However, no charges were announced until December 2021. CNN fired the former Cuomo producer after his arrest. "Prior to his arrest and indictment, we had no knowledge about the case," a CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital, adding that no CNN-owned devices issued to Griffin went missing or were reported lost in September 2020, around the time some of his devices were confiscated by the authorities. Sources told Fox News Digital that Griffin moved out of a $4 million Connecticut home he shared with his wife last year due to marital issues. At the time of his arrest last month, he was living alone in Stamford.

The former TV producer could face life in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty and is currently remanded in custody without bail in Vermont.