ANCHORAGE KINDERGARTEN AIDE
RESIGNS FOLLOWING DISCLOSURE
Jesse Griffin, the Alaska blogger who Saturday claimed in an “exclusive” report that Todd and Sarah Palin were divorcing, will no longer work as an Anchorage kindergarten teaching assistant, school officials confirmed Wednesday.
Griffin’s resignation followed revelations that the 49-year-old Griffin had posted (under the alias “Gryphen”) sexually explicit advocacy of pornography and masturbation on his “Immoral Minority” blog. (See “Give Jesse Enough Rope” WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE.)
Because Griffin’s MySpace profile page featured a link to “Immoral Minority,” that material — as well as other vulgar content, including descriptions of former Gov. Palin as “a nasty b*tch” who wore “f*** me pumps” — could have been accessed by anyone searching online for “Jesse Griffin” in Anchorage. (See “Jesse Griffin: Disturbing Revelations,” by Dan Riehl.)
Investigative blogger Dan Riehl on Wednesday spoke by phone with Anchorage school district officials who seemed to have been previously unaware of the graphic content on Griffin’s “Immoral Minority” site. (See “Jesse Griffin: Latest Developments,” by Dan Riehl. )
Riehl was interviewed Wednesday evening about the Griffin case on Eddie Burke’s popular Anchorage KBYR radio program. Burke said on the program that school officials told him that Griffin had submitted his resignation and that the district had “no record of any inappropriate actions” by Griffin while he was employed at Trailside Elementary School in Anchorage.
“Sarah is finished with Todd and has decided to end their marriage,” Griffin wrote at “Immoral Minority” Saturday morning, saying that “one of [his] best sources” had told him the Palins were divorcing. Griffin’s story was immediately promoted by Dennis Zaki’s “Alaska Report” site, which claimed that “multiple sources” had confirmed the report.
Jeanne Devon, an Anchorage Democratic activist who had previously blogged anonymously, also promoted Griffin’s “exclusive” at the Huffington Post. As a result of this promotion, by Saturday afternoon Zaki’s headline, “Todd and Sarah Palin to divorce,” was the lead item at the popular Memeorandum political news site, even though it had already been officially denied by Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton.
Griffin wrote on his blog Wednesday, “I stand by every single word” of the original report, which accused Sarah Palin of attempting “to hide a broken relationship” with husband Todd.
Griffin blamed “the Palin team and their minions” for discovery of his “Gryphen” online alias, which he says resulted in death threats and harassment. During his KBYR interview, Riehl disparaged Griffin’s credibility.
“Right now, the best I can tell, [Griffin] has ‘bogus’ written so much all over him it should be his middle name,” Riehl said, adding that he had discovered “one lie after another” from Griffin.
Griffin wrote Wednesday at “Immoral Minority” that he had a “long career working with children in gymnasiums, camps, and various schools.”
After revelations that Griffin had used his “Immoral Minority” site to advocate “self pleasure” and express his preference for amateur pornography, Griffin told his blog readers Wednesday: “I think what is truly frightening is how ready some people are to believe that just because you are a male who works with kids you must be a pervert. . . . The truth is that I have never even been accused of anything inappropriate with a child in my classroom, camp, or home. It has simply never happened.”
Further updates are expected at RIEHL WORLD VIEW.
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