Amanda Pevey
Elmore Autauga News
A Wetumpka man arrested earlier this year has been indicted on multiple felony charges following an Elmore County Sheriff’s Office investigation that began in February.
James Luke Beasley-Pullen, 21, was indicted by an Elmore County grand jury on seven counts of production of child pornography involving minors, three counts of sexual extortion, five counts of aggravated criminal surveillance and one count of converting a pistol into a machine gun. The combined maximum penalty for the charges exceeds 800 years in prison if he is convicted on every count.
According to court records, the investigation began in February when a victim reported harassing communications, and an alleged sexual extortion attempt to the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office. As the investigation expanded, additional victims came forward after receiving text messages containing AI-generated nude images resembling them. Investigators allege the victims were threatened with the release of the altered images unless they provided explicit photographs.
Search warrants executed during the investigation led to the seizure of electronic devices and the additional charges returned by the grand jury.
Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said the case stands apart from most investigations his office handles.
“We don’t have many cases like that,” Franklin said. “You don’t have many people that put up cameras and devices in a home, watching and monitoring what people are doing.”
Franklin said investigators determined the devices had been placed inside the home of Beasley-Pullen’s girlfriend’s parents. “He had some devices set up in their home,” Franklin said. “That’s a little outside the norm of what we deal with.”
Franklin said informing the victims was one of the most difficult parts of the investigation.
“To say they were upset is a vast understatement,” he said. “We just don’t get many cases like that.”
According to court records, Beasley-Pullen remains in the Elmore County Jail on a $540,000 cash bond. His next scheduled court appearance is in August for a youthful offender application hearing in Elmore County Circuit Court. Franklin noted that although Beasley-Pullen can apply for youthful offender status based on his age, the decision ultimately rests with the court.
