LAKE HAVASU CITY – An elderly Lake Havasu City man faces possible life behind bars following the discovery of thousands of images of child pornography on his home computer. An investigation began in May when the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children task force notified police that 35 files of child porn had been uploaded at a home in the 3200 block of Aztec Drive.
A police report indicates that John Graves, 68, initially denied downloading the images when officers seized his computer and cell phone during an Aug. 5 search of his home. Graves subsequently said he accessed the images by accident before he told detectives he accepted an email invitation to view girls.
“I’m just very upset about being nailed for child pornography,” Graves said during an interview at the police station. “All I can do is put it in the hands of the Lord and go from that point there.”
Detailed descriptions of the 35 images of prepubescent females that prompted the investigation are included in the police report. It said 21,355 image files and 758 video files in Graves’ computer were reviewed.
“The majority of all of the images files and video files contained on the USB drive were of child pornography,” the police report said.
Deputy Mohave County attorney Jacob Cote said Graves is charged in an indictment with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. A conviction would involve a mandatory minimum ten-year prison term for each count.
Dave Hawkins
