Staff reports 5:40 a.m.
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 5:40 am

ALBANY - An Albany man pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts possession of and access with intent to view child pornography and obstruction of justice.

According to the plea documents, the defendant, Brian Hargraves, 55, posed as a teenage boy online to obtain child sexual abuse material from a minor victim. After his devices were seized and his home searched, he then contacted the victim and asked her not to testify against him, according to a release sent Tuesday by the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Hargraves was arrested in May 2025, and ahs been detained since.

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 told the minor victim that he was a teenage boy and asked her to create explicit videos and images of herself to send to him. The evidence revealed that Hargraves was also in communication with other minors and was posing as a teenager in those communications as well.

"Brian Hargraves used the internet to take advantage of vulnerable minors," U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan said. "Thanks to our law enforcement partners, his predatory and deceptive conduct was stopped, and he will serve a significant prison sentence."