By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A convicted sex offender was arrested after investigators found pornography on his cellphone during a warrantless search, the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office said.

Michael David Evans, 29, of the 400 block of Lakeside Drive, was charged Monday with felony third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

Evans is on post-release supervision after a 2012 conviction for sexual servitude of a minor, which was a Rowan County case. He is required to submit to warrantless searches at reasonable times by state probation and parole officers.

On May 20, Evans was visited by two probation and parole officers, who took his cellphone to search for electronic data. After checking the phone, a probation officer contacted Rowan County Sheriff’s Office Detective Greg Bacote.

On June 13, Bacote obtained a search warrant for Evans’ phone and found evidence of child pornography stored in the phone and in the browsing history.

Bacote presented his findings to a magistrate Monday. The magistrate found probable cause to issue an arrest warrant.

Evans was arrested Monday and issued a $15,000 secured bond. He remains in the Rowan County Detention Center.