CNN media reporter delivers brutal assessment of Chris Licht's tenure on the air: 'Series of severe missteps'
After CNN CEO Chris Licht stepped down from the network on Wednesday, CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy provided a searing postmortem on the former CNN boss’ short tenure there.
WARNING: SOME DETAILS FROM INDICTMENT MAY BE DISTURBING
Former CNN producer John Griffin will be going to prison for nearly two decades after he pleaded guilty to child sex crimes in December.
According to the Associated Press, Griffin was handed a more than 19-year sentence and an additional 15 years of supervised release during a hearing at a U.S. District Court in Vermont.
The 45-year-old resident from Stamford, Connecticut, was accused of coercing parents to allow their minor daughters as young as 7 years old to engage in sexual activity in his Vermont ski home.
He was initially charged "with three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity." Two of those charges were dropped as part of a plea agreement.
EX-CNN PRODUCER JOHN GRIFFIN PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD SEX CRIMES
Former CNN producer John Griffin was sentenced to over 19 years in prison following a guilty plea to child sex crimes. (Vermont State Police)
The U.S. Attorney's office in Vermont wrote in a statement following Griffin's December 2021 arrest that he "sought to persuade parents to allow him to train their daughters to be sexually submissive."
"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," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Vermont alleged at the time.
CHARGES AGAINST CNN PRODUCER ACCUSED OF INDUCING MINORS FOR SEX REVEAL LEWD DETAILS
Ex-CNN producer John Griffin's $2 million Vermont chalet where he's accused of abusing a 9-year-old girl. (Fox News Digital)
According to the unsealed indictment, Griffin stated he believes there is a "wanton whore" at "the core of any" female and that "a woman is a woman regardless of her age," according to messages included in the indictment.
Griffin sent text messages to a mother of two daughters, ages 9 and 13, which stated, "One of the big lies of this society is that women are delicate innocent angels and they are in actuality, naturally, the dirtiest sluts possible, in EVERY metric."
The veteran CNN staffer also allegedly texted the mother, "When handled appropriately, a woman is a woman regardless of her age" and urged the mother to make sure her 13-year-old daughter was "trained properly."
LONGTIME CNN PRODUCER JOHN GRIFFIN'S DEVICES SEIZED 17 MONTHS BEFORE CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING ARREST
John Griffin was fired by CNN following his December 2021 arrest. (Twitter)
The indictment indicated he had "sexually trained girls as young as 7 years old" and advised a mother that her 14-year-old daughter "would be a good candidate for such training." He allegedly proposed that training would begin on a video chat where he "planned to instruct the 14-year-old and her mother to remove their clothing and touch each other" and eventually declared in-person meetings would include "spanking" and "c--k worship."
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Griffin was a producer for CNN's now-canceled morning program "New Day." He had worked at the network for eight years. CNN fired him shortly after his arrest.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.