CNN’s Rick Saleeby, former senior producer of Jack Tapper’s “The Lead,” is under criminal investigation after serious allegations involving minors have been made against him. Allegedly, Saleeby was involved in soliciting sexually explicit photos from an underage girl, while also engaging in horrific text messaging and Facetime calls with minors.
After being caught sending sexually explicit text messages to an underage girl, Saleeby’s devices and hard drives were seized from his home, where it was discovered that he allegedly had sexual fantasies of his fiancé’s daughter, according to Post Millenial. Janine Banini, Saleeby’s decade-long fiancé, reported to Project Veritas that Saleeby solicited photos from her daughter and gave a recording in which he explicitly described his sexual fantasies for the minor.
The investigation against Rick Saleeby is being led by the Child Exploitation Squad of the Major Crimes Bureau in Fairfax, VA. “While we will eventually be transparent about our findings, safeguarding the personal privacy and safety of victims and witnesses as well as maintaining the integrity of our criminal investigation are of paramount importance,” a spokesman for Fairfax County Police said in a statement.
Saleeby is the second employee of CNN under investigation and facing criminal charges for alleged sexual crimes against minors. Recently, John Griffin was fired from CNN after being arrested for enticing minors to engage in unlawful sex. “A woman is a woman regardless of her age” is one of the many ideas conveyed by Griffin to mothers of young daughters, in addition to the idea that women should be sexually subservient to men.
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.’” Later, he transferred $3,000 to the mother for plane tickets to fly herself and her 9-year old daughter from Nevada to Boston’s Logan airport. Once at the Boston airport, Griffin drove the mother and daughter to his Ludlow house where the daughter engaged in unlawful sexual activity.
In April 2020, Griffin also “proposed to engage in a ‘virtual training session’ over a video chat that would include him instructing the mother and her 14-year-old daughter to remove their clothing and touch each other at his direction.” In addition, Griffin attempted to coerce a mother of a 16-year old daughter to come to his Ludlow ski house for a “mother-daughter trip” involving sexual training for the minor.
In September 2020, unbeknownst to CNN, criminal investigators seized “computers storage media, devices, phones, cameras, MicroSD cards, images, and video” from Griffin as part of an investigation. “Prior to his arrest and indictment, we had no knowledge about the case,” a CNN spokesman told Fox News. He also stated none of Griffin’s company-issued devices were reported missing, hinting at the fact that he did not use company property to commit his crimes.
While the investigations continue, both men are no longer employees of CNN, as Rick Saleeby resigned and John Griffin was immediately fired when CNN learned of his arrest. Chris Cuomo was also fired from CNN for his involvement in helping his brother Andrew Cuomo with his own sexual allegations, it is marvelous to know that CNN has no tolerance for, and does not protect employees who engage in sexually predatory crimes.
Written by Hyleia Kidd
Sources:
Fox News: Second CNN producer under ‘criminal investigation’ involving ‘potential juvenile victims’: by Joseph A. Wulfsohn
The Post Millenial: BREAKING: Jake Tapper producer caught in pedo scandal RESIGNS from CNN
New York Post: Second ex-CNN staffer under investigation for alleged crimes involving minors: report: by Yaron Steinbuch
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