Wealthy TV producer pleads not guilty to child sex charges

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A television producer has pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges in connection with paying a Nevada woman to bring her 9-year-old daughter to Vermont to engage in illegal sexual activity at a Ludlow ski house. Forty-four-year-old John Griffin entered the plea in federal court in Burlington Wednesday and is being held pending trial. In court documents, prosecutors described the Stamford, Connecticut resident as a wealthy man who “has tried to deceive, delete, and spend his way out of being held accountable.” Griffin’s Vermont attorney David Kirby declined comment on Wednesday. Griffin worked for CNN for eight years and the network said Wednesday that he had been fired.