Editor’s Note: This story contains explicit content.
A Beckville man was arrested and charged with distribution of child pornography after federal officials say he sent more than 350 sexually-explicit files, including photos and video, of children and young adults to an undercover FBI agent.
Many of the files showed children and young adults being sexually abused and assaulted, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Louisiana, where the undercover officer was based.
James Allen Martin, 50, of Beckville was arrested Monday on a U.S. Marshals detainer and taken to the Gregg County Jail.
An undercover agent with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation first made contact with Martin in July 2022 through the Whisper app and then later the Wickr app, according to the criminal complaint. During their conversations, Martin told the LBI investigator that he was ‘lookin for 8 to 11’ and later sent the agent multiple videos of child sexual abuse material.
A few days later, an undercover FBI agent was introduced to Martin on the Wickr chatting app. The criminal complaint filed against Martin details a few of his conversations with the FBI agent: In one conversation, Martin told the undercover officer that he wanted to sexually-assault a 3-month-old, calling it “excellent selling material.”
The complaint then details how Martin sent the undercover FBI agent more images of child sex abuse material before sending an encrypted file of more than 350 images and videos of child pornography.
Martin would later send other child sex abuse material to the undercover agent following this, according to the criminal complaint.
FBI officials, working with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, received information through a search warrant that connected Martin’s Whisper posts to locations later identified as Martin’s home in Beckville and work in Carthage. The posts ranged from July 12, 2022 to Aug. 6, 2022.
Officials with the FBI and LBI were also able to track Martin down through his phone number, and an FBI agent physically surveilled Martin at his work, finding details that matched with the conversations the undercover agent had had, such as the type of car that Martin drove.
