PONTIAC, Mich. – Federal investigators said a Pontiac man already on supervised release for a child sexually abusive material conviction was caught again after probation officers discovered a hidden cellphone in his bedroom.
The find, investigators said, led to more than 200 suspected child sex abuse images.
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An agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Detroit said Steven Michael Celani, 60, is a registered sex offender on supervised release for his prior conviction “for the possession of child pornography” tied to a 2018 case.
He was on probation supervision and had “a special condition of his supervised release” that allowed searches.
That condition set the stage for what authorities said unfolded on March 5, 2026.
The initial search
During a search of Celani’s Pontiac home, the FBI said probation officers found a gray Motorola cell phone in Celani’s bedroom, hidden “behind a stack of books on a bookshelf.”
In an initial review, probation officers found “images and videos which met the federal definition of child pornography.”
The material also included “dozens of sexually explicit images and videos of prepubescent girls in various states of undress.”
The FBI said at least ten of the images and videos showed the genital areas of young girls, and some depicted abusive sexual acts and sodomy.
The images and videos were dated starting in October 2024, according to court records.
When officers told Celani a phone had been found in his bedroom, Celani “apologized to the officers,” the FBI said.
Probation officers then alerted the FBI on March 11, and the phone was turned over to them the next day.
A federal judge later authorized a search warrant for the phone, and on March 19, the FBI conducted a more thorough examination of it.
What investigators later found
During a preliminary FBI review, investigators found more than 200 images “which meet the federal definition of child pornography” on the phone, court records said.
The FBI said many of the images were cataloged by Celani in an explicit folder titled ‘b*tt h**es.’”
One image, the FBI used as an example, was allegedly of a nude 9-year-old girl, “lying on her back” in a sexual position.
Another image, cited as another example in the federal complaint, was an image of a girl “approximately eight years old,” nude except for “pink socks,” and posed in a way investigators deemed sexually explicit.
The FBI also uncovered “numerous sexually explicit videos” on the phone, with at least ten “meeting the federal definition of child pornography.”
One video found was approximately one minute long and depicted an adult man sexually assaulting “an approximately 9-year-old girl,” the feds said.
The feds seek charges
The FBI argued that, despite the phone appearing hidden, Celani regularly used it.
They said the phone was found in Celani’s bedroom, “which is not shared with any other individuals,” and it was signed into Facebook and Cash App accounts in the name “Steve Celani.” They also said it had previously been signed into a Google Drive account.
Celani was charged with possession of child pornography on March 30.
He was convicted in Wayne County in August 2018 for the same charge, and his work address was listed in Oxford, according to the Michigan Sex Offender Registry.
Celani was temporarily detained on April 9 pending trial. A preliminary examination is set for 1 p.m. on April 22, 2026.