Dec. 26—An Austin man, with a prior conviction for sexual assault, has made a first appearance Tuesday in Mower County District Court for possession of child pornography.

Eric Robert Smith, 59, has been charged with 20 counts of possessing pornographic work as a registered predatory offender and possessing pornographic work involving minors under the age of 14.

According to official court documents, Smith was arrested on Dec. 8 on a warrant for violating conditions of his release put down by the Minnesota Department of Corrections, though the document does not mention what that violation was.

During the arrest, Smith’s cellphone was seized by the DOC and an initial search of phone turned up suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

A detective for the Austin Police Department was notified, who obtained a search warrant for the phone, which was sent to the Rochester Police Department Technology Forensic Unit for examination.

The detective later examined the phone data on Dec. 18. According to court documents, the phone contained 19 files containing CSAM. Of those, five depicted victims identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The 19 files allegedly depicted children as old as 12 and as young as six.

Smith’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 8. He is currently being held in the Mower County Jail.