By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – A retired Ogdensburg Police Detective will face trial Feb. 2 at 9 a.m. for charges of child pornography.

Harry J. McCarthy is charged with sexual exploitation of children, distribution of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, transportation of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

McCarthy was expected to accept a plea agreement Oct. 24 or face jury trial in November in Northern District New York Federal Court in Syracuse, but Chief Judge Glenn T. Suddaby has granted McCarthy until Nov. 17 to change his plea. He has now refused the deal

According to court documents, he will face trial Dec. 2 after refusing a plea deal that would have put him behind bars for 15 years.

If convicted of all charges, McCarthy faces at least 15 years and up to 30 years in prison for each charge of child exploitation, and at least five years and up to 20 years for each charge of distributing, receiving, and transporting child pornography.

McCarthy’s original arrest in 2016 was the result of an investigation conducted by the New York State Police Computer Crimes Unit and Troop B, in cooperation with the City of Ogdensburg Police Department.

Court documents say the image was uploaded using the Google Gmail service. Google apparently notified the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children of the child porn image and the addresses that were used to access the email account.

An order of protection was also issued for McCarthy's girlfriend and her children, which he allegedly violated later.

McCarthy also retired from the Ogdensburg Police Department during his time in custody. His annual salary was $73,111 not including benefits, and a felony conviction would not impact his pension, according to Ogdensburg’s City Manager Sarah Purdy.