Authorities say child pornography on the cell phone of a Phillipsburg man arrested last week was discovered when the 27-year-old left the phone behind after a trip to a hospital emergency room.

Police found several images on Larry Reed Jr.'s phone and learned he had used the hospital's guest wi-fi network to search for more sexual images of young girls, according to probable cause affidavit filed by Phillipsburg police.

Reed, 27, of the 300 block of Mercer Street, was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of endangering the welfare of child, or possession of child pornography. The criminal complaint accused him of downloading and storing several sexually explicit images of children on a cell phone.

In court papers, police said employees from a linen company used by St. Luke's Hospital in Phillipsburg found the Sony Ericcson cell phone on Sept. 23 lying in dirty sheets. It was turned over to a hospital employee who told police he began checking the contacts folder to see if he could find the owner.

Unsuccessful, he flipped to the photo gallery and found what he thought was child pornography.

The employee turned the phone over to the hospital's director of security who described the pictures to police as being of a girl, about 7 or 8 years old, posing in sexually explicit positions and a young boy performing acts of a sexual nature, according to court papers.

Phillipsburg detectives examined the phone and found several other pornographic images of children, all of which were dated between June and September, records say.

Police said hospital records revealed Reed had been admitted to the emergency room the night of Sept. 17 and security cameras show he had two phones with him.

Detectives found a Google search on the Sony phone for "little girls in bikinis," at the time Reed was in the hospital, court papers say. Phone records showed the device had been connected to the hospital's guest wi-fi network, the affidavit says.

Another Internet search for "little girls naked" was also performed shortly after Reed was discharged, court papers say.

In early October, Reed was identified as the owner of the phone and police charged him with possession of child pornography.

He has since made his first appearance in New Jersey Superior Court in Belvidere and remained Monday afternoon in the Warren County jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.