Pastor Charged with Sharing CSAM

A septuagenarian pastor and retired educator living in Florida has been arrested for a second time on CSAM (child sexual abuse material) charges.

Former Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University professor John Robert Griffin II was first arrested on January 6 on 30 felony charges of CSAM possession. 

The Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) said 200 sexually explicit images of children were found on electronic devices belonging to Griffin after a search warrant was executed at his Muirfield Drive home.

On April 2, Griffin was served in Volusia County Jail for allegedly sharing CSAM with others via internet chat rooms. 

The latest arrest report states that the pastor is facing 13 new felony charges relating to the electronic transmission of CSAM.

The new charges were brought after the contents of Griffin’s social media accounts and iPad were reviewed by the Daytona Beach police detectives working at the Advanced Technology & Cyber Crimes Unit.

Detectives said they discovered that Griffin had shared sexually explicit images of children as young as five with other users of the social media app Kik. 

An examination of Griffin’s Kik account by law enforcement also allegedly revealed that the 73-year-old had been exchanging messages with a 15-year-old girl in Arkansas. According to the arrest report, the conversations between the senior and the minor were sexual and graphic in nature. 

An investigation was launched into Griffin in October 2020 after SnapChat sent a tip to the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children (NCMEC) in August 2020. 

Griffin, who was previously an associate professor of air traffic management at Embry-Riddle, is currently being held at the Volusia County Jail. 

Riverbend Community Church in Ormond Beach fired Griffin from his position as pastor on the day he was first arrested by DBPD.

“As soon as we found out about the arrest, we immediately removed him as an elder and he was relieved of all of his responsibilities,” Brian Giaquinto, a Riverbend elder who is pastor of finance and administration, told Baptist Press.

The church said no allegations had been made by its members against Griffin, but that it plans to conduct its own investigation into the former pastor.