Source: Office of United States Attorneys
CONCORD – An Albany man was arrested for posing online as a teenage boy to obtain child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from a minor victim, Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack announces.
Brian Hargraves, 54, was arrested on Tuesday and indicted yesterday on charges of Possession of and Access with Intent to View Child Pornography. He appeared in federal court on May 21, 2025.
According to the charging documents, on April 29, 2025, law enforcement conducted a search of Hargraves mobile phones following a citizen complaint. A review of one of the phones revealed sexually explicit images and videos of a 16-year-old minor victim. Hargraves allegedly met the minor victim online and told her that he was a teenage boy and asked her to create explicit videos and images of herself to send to him.
The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 10 years. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department and the Conway Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Vicinanzo is prosecuting the case.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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