A Sault Ste. Marie man nabbed in a 2022 province-wide child exploitation probe will be in a local courtroom Aug. 14 for sentencing.
Gregory Pearce, 32, pleaded guilty last week to possession of child pornography.
Ontario Court Justice Melanie Dunn heard police seized a laptop and an iPhone when they showed up at the accused's east-end residence with a search warrant in September 2022.
Officers located 352 images and 579 videos of child pornography, showing explicit sexual activity, on the devices, assistant Crown attorney Gary Knox said.
The offence occurred between Feb. 15, 2021 and Aug. 31, 2022.
Pearce was among 107 people from across the province charged in Project Maverick, which involved 27 police agencies.
The court heard the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre contacted city police in July 2022 about an individual it had identified as uploading explicit material.
When officers reviewed the information, they found a substantial amount of pornography involving pre-pubescent males, Knox said.
Sentencing was put over to the August date so a pre-sentence report can be prepared for the court.