MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Paris, Tennessee man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for production of child pornography after a cell phone containing explicit images was traced to him, federal authorities said Thursday.

According to U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz, in February 2021, Charles Anthony Anderson, 56, asked some people to clean and fix a security camera at a vape shop he co-owned in Henry County.

While working on the security camera, one of those people found a cell phone hidden on top of a china cabinet. He took it home and charged it to see if he could determine the owner.

That’s when he discovered galleries of explicit images involving children, and information indicating the phone was owned by Anderson. He confronted Anderson, who admitted he took the pictures, authorities said.

Anderson gave a full confession to the Henry County Sheriff’s Department. A federal investigation revealed the photos were taken in 2019, prosecutors said.

Anderson was already a registered sex offender convicted in Florida in 2003 for charges involving a minor under 12, according to a news release from Ritz.

He was sentenced Nov. 16 to 25 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.