QuickTake:

The 63-year-old who was living in Eugene and had been sometimes teaching about fire at LCC was booked into jail on Thursday.

A fire management expert living in Eugene, who retired as a federal fire chief after a long career in wildland firefighting, has been arrested on suspicion of possessing child sexual abuse material.

Lane County Sheriff’s Office detectives Thursday, April 23, arrested Michael Stephen Beasley, 63, after executing a search warrant Tuesday at a residence on the 4500 block of Old Dillard Road in Eugene, seizing various electronic devices.

Beasley was booked in the Lane County Jail. Prosecutors on Friday formally charged Beasley with nine counts of second-degree encouraging child sex abuse and one count of encouraging sex abuse of an animal.

The child-related charges, which are felonies, involve possessing visual recordings of sexually explicit conduct involving a child. The animal-related charge, which is a misdemeanor, involves possessing a visual recording of a person engaged in sexual conduct with an animal.

Beasley previously taught wildfire-related courses at Lane Community College, spokesperson Jenna McCulley said.

Class schedule information from 2024 shows Beasley teaching a course titled “Wildland Fuels Management and Prescribed Burning.” 

“He’s not teaching currently, not assigned to any course,” McCulley said, describing him as working intermittently for the college. Beasley was listed in the college’s online directory as of Friday.

In 2021, Beasley testified before the Oregon Legislature about a wildfire workforce program, describing himself as a retired interagency forest fire chief with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.

Beasley is listed online as board president and co-founding board member for Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology. The organization advocates for fire management practices that promote ecological resilience.

The organization’s executive director, Timothy Ingalsbee, said Friday morning he knew nothing about any arrest and declined comment. Biographical information for Beasley posted on the organization’s website states Beasley retired in 2015 and that he teaches at Lane Community College.

Lt. Tim Wallace with the Lane County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation began after the discovery of suspected child sexual abuse material in a rental cabin at a resort, similar to a hotel room.

“The person who discovered the material was a renter who arrived some time after the suspect had been a renter,” Wallace said in an email.

The sheriff’s office received the report from the concerned renter April 4, launching the investigation that led to Beasley’s arrest. An FBI special agent and a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office detective assisted in executing the search warrant, according to the news release.

Beasley appeared Friday afternoon before Lane County Circuit Court Curtis Conover via a remote video link from the jail.

He did not enter a plea, and security was set at $40,000, meaning that 10% of that amount, $4,000, must be posted on his behalf for him to be released from jail.

During the video hearing, Conover heard a request from prosecutors to have Beasley forfeit his passport to reduce the risk that he flees instead of appearing in court.

The request stated that, based on information from images recovered from Beasley’s electronic devices, he travels frequently to Thailand. Conover said the passport forfeiture request will be considered if security is posted for Beasley.

Beasley’s next court appearance was set for May 28.