It is not uncommon for a restaurant patron to accidentally leave something behind when he or she leaves the restaurant. To-go boxes, credit cards, wallets, and cell phones are all frequently left on restaurant tables after a patron walks away. But it is certainly less common for a forgotten item to lead to an arrest.

According to a local news report, an employee at BJ's Brewhouse in Oklahoma City near Quail Springs Mall noticed a cell phone left behind. The employee picked up the phone and opened it to try to find identifying information for the phone's owner. Instead, the employee found something shocking.

The employee reported to police that the phone was opened to a website featuring images of child pornography.

When the phone's owner arrived back at the restaurant to retrieve the lost phone, Oklahoma City police arrested him on a complaint of possession of child pornography.

The Oklahoma City police jail blotter shows the arrest of a 28-year-old Oklahoma City man on complaints of possession of child pornography on Saturday. That man was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, a little more than two hours after the discovery of the phone. The man identified in the police blotter has not been charged, and jail records do not indicate that he is in custody.

The man was arrested under 21 O.S. 1021.2, which says that anyone "who knowingly possesses . . . any child pornography shall be guilty, upon conviction, of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) years." 

Additional consequences of conviction of possession of child pornography include a fine of up to $25,000 and sex offender registration. In Oklahoma, possession of child pornography is designated as a Level 1 sex offense, which means that a person convicted of this crime must register annually as a sex offender for a period of 15 years. However, for a second or subsequent offense, a person would be considered a "habitual offender" and would be required to register as a sex offender for life.

Click here to learn more about Oklahoma child pornography laws and the penalties for possession, distribution, and production of sexually explicit images of minors under the age of 18. 

Image Credit: Jacqui Brown