SUDBURY -- A search of a 26-year-old man's cellphone after he was arrested in January uncovered child pornography, Greater Sudbury Police said Friday, in what turned out to be the tip of the iceberg.

"In the same month, an email service provider reported a person from Greater Sudbury emailing child pornography to another person on the Internet," police said in a news release. "A few months later in April, a chat application reported a person from Greater Sudbury sending child pornography to another user of the chat application."

During the three investigations, the police's patrol operations and Internet child exploitation unit executed five court orders authorizing police to gather account information, computer forensic evidence, and the authority to search a Greater Sudbury residence on June 18.

"Based on the evidence gathered from the execution of the court orders, detectives were able to identify the man believed to be responsible for the incidents," police said.

The 26-year-old man was arrested June 18 and is charged with:

- Three counts of accessing child pornography

- Three counts of possession of child pornography

- Two counts of distribution of child pornography

- And 16 counts of breaching probation

He was in bail court Friday to answer to the charges.

The ICE unit is part of the Ontario Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet, which has been made possible by a grant from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the Ministry of the Attorney General.