Norwich — A 42-year-old Norwich man is facing multiple charges after police allegedly found hundreds of photos of naked girls under the age of 13 on one of his cell phones.

Michael J. Riley, who is incarcerated at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Uncasville, was charged Thursday with possession of child pornography and importing child pornography as he appeared in Norwich Superior Court on unrelated charges.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Riley first came to the attention of police on March 8, when Holly Hretz, whom police had charged with sale of cocaine, said Riley would watch child pornography on his tablet whenever she would perform sexual acts on him in exchange for crack cocaine.

Hretz, the affidavit states, said that the man she knew only as "Mike" told her that he liked her because she looked young. According to Hretz, Riley asked her to find a 7-year-old he could have sex with.

Hretz estimated she met with “Mike” 10 times between September and March.

By using a cell phone number Hretz provided, Norwich Detective Kevin J. Wilbur determined “Mike” was Michael J. Riley, formerly of 34 Donahue Drive. On March 10, Wilbur and other officers went to Riley’s residence, where they said they asked and received permission to seize Riley’s cell phone and his Amazon Kindle Fire HDX tablet.

Riley, the affidavit states, had agreed to show up at 8 a.m. March 11 at the police station to give a signed sworn statement. When he was a no-show, officers said they searched for and located the white Town and Country minivan he was driving at the Broadway apartment of one of his known acquaintances, Lynn Mathewson.

According to the affidavit, Mathewson allowed them to come inside, at which point they found Riley in the kitchen.

Officers told Riley they were conducting a wellbeing check because he had missed his morning appointment. With his approval, they searched him and found a crack pipe, the affidavit states.

Riley also had dropped a cell phone that he said he forgot to give to Wilbur the night before, police said.

According to the affidavit, Wilbur took a closer look at the phone once he was back at the police station. When Wilbur asked Riley to unlock the phone, Riley obliged.

According to the affidavit, the screen changed to a photo of a 5- to 7-year old female in a sexually explicit position. Riley, the affidavit states, uttered an expletive and quickly closed the image.

Further investigation of the cell phone revealed four folders with descriptive phrases that held almost 800 pictures of girls “immediately identifiable as being under the age of thirteen,” the affidavit states.

According to the affidavit, Riley told police he found an interest in child porn in the summer of 2015, when he had been looking at adult porn but was redirected to a child porn site. He said he always has been attracted to “petite, younger looking women,” the affidavit states.

Riley told police, the affidavit states, that he knew it was wrong to click on and view the pictures and videos. He said his addiction to narcotics and his porn-viewing habits had spiraled out of control in the past seven months, according to the affidavit. He assured Wilbur he had never touched a child inappropriately.

According to police, Riley admitted he had met up with prostitutes including one he knew as “Holly.” Riley allegedly agreed that he had asked “Holly” on multiple occasions to find him a younger female to meet up with.

Riley, records show, was convicted in 2008 of attempt to commit second-degree assault. According to the affidavit, that conviction stemmed from a 2007 incident in which he choked his girlfriend at the time.

Riley also has been convicted of varying degrees of larceny in the past and has two pending drug-related cases, one of which stemmed from his March 11 run-in with Norwich police.

Riley, held on a combined $300,000 in bonds, is next due in New London Superior Court May 1.

l.boyle@theday.com