An East Coast Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman (SWCC) was arrested on Tuesday by The Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office after a four-month-long undercover operation.
Chief Petty Officer Michael Hargraves is charged with 16 counts of use of a communication system to request a minor to expose genitals, three counts of use of a communication device to request a sex act from a minor, and one count of use of a communication device to request a child to feel or fondle his own sexual or genital parts. Officials claim that additional charges are possible.
Four months ago, The Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office and Norfolk Police Department detected a profile on an internet chat room, which expressed interest to engage sexually with a minor. Upon discovery of the profile, local law enforcement contacted and worked in conjunction with the Bedford County Virginia Sheriff’s Office’s Southern Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).
Agents from the Southern Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force posed as a young female on the internet chat room and began corresponding with the Chief Petty Officer. During the on-and-off four-month dialogue, the accused allegedly submitted explicit videos, pictures, and made requests for physical sexual interaction.
SOFREP has learned that Chief Hargraves was assigned Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), also known as SEAL Team Six, before he was canned for underperforming.
The accused is currently being held in Suffolk, VA without bond.
According to NCIS, more Navy related sexual assault cases take place in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., specifically in the Hampton Roads area, than anywhere else in the world.

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Over the past ten years, there has been an upward trend of sexual assault cases at bases in the greater Hampton Roads area.
The Navy has taken large steps in an effort to prevent sexual assault, but unfortunately, it seems to be an ever-growing problem.
Lieutenant Katherine Koenig from Naval Special Warfare Command said to SOFREP that “the alleged facts in this case do not reflect the values and high standards of conduct the nation expects from the men and women of Naval Special Warfare. We take these allegations seriously, and if the service member is found guilty, appropriate administrative and/or further disciplinary action will be considered. . . Navy officials are cooperating fully with the local authorities who have jurisdiction over this case.”
This kind of thing (I agree with Stavros) is an individual thing.
But it's impossible to ignore that there is a leadership culture problem that has developed in the USN. There are many things to point at for causes, but IMO - the biggest reason is the most difficult philosophic problem. What does the navy train for (particularly the officer corps)? How do they advance themselves?
I cannot recall the exact statistics, but I do not think I'm mistaken, that with regards to Naval Warfare (other than the CVNs and SSs, the only actual commissioned surface vessel in 2020 that has actually seen naval combat is parked in Boston Harbor and made of wood. (unless of course trying to avoid collisions in shipping lanes in the Pacific is considered combat these days)
The only combat operations otherwise are all JSOC oriented, and the budget and jockeying for advancement makes the environment ripe for corruption and poor leadership.
It's obvious that the silent warrior ethos was tossed aside, starting really in the mid 1990s. Leadership like Stavridis and McShuck McRaven (who was tossed from active ops in the teams in the 1980s) completely destroyed the silent warrior ethos. It's not a mistake IMO, that the very best that the Navy has produced in recent times, Adm Mike - was a surface warfare officer with combat experience, and specialized into information and psychological warfare and other than very important things - has disappeared.
Gone are the days of guys in the photos below (for now) in public (hopefully to return soon). and hopefully gone will be the days of training NSW units for months to years long deployments - in the middle of the fucking desert. Nothing makes my head spin more than that pure stupidity - that is compeltely the result of years and years of budgetary jockeying with no strategic foresight or thought.
And with regard to the other stuff. Terrible philosophic problem, because the alternative to an entire Navy with no combat experience and paper pushing officer corps with poor discipline and leadership - is an entire Navy with combat experience.
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