South Carolina state Rep RJ May accused of distributing child sexual abuse material

A Republican lawmaker in the South Carolina House has been charged with 10 counts of distributing child sexual abuse material.

RJ May was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Lexington County. His arrest on the federal charges was the culmination of a lengthy investigation into his internet activities. He appeared in federal court on Thursday.

According to an indictment, the three-term Republican used several screen names, including the one referencing former President Joe Biden - "joebidennnn69" - while exchanging CSAM files on the Kik social media network.

Kik notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in April 2024 of several videos containing child abuse linked to the accounts that prosecutors argue were controlled by May, according to WISTV.

During a hearing on Thursday a memo including Kik data was made public showing May's alleged account had 265 videos of child abuse associated with it. The data also included IP address data linking the account to May's home Wi-Fi network.

“Agents confirmed during surveillance of the residence, and again during the search of the residence. that the Wi-Fi at the May residence was password protected,” the indictment said. “Thus, for the [child abuse] activity on Kik to have been conducted by someone other than May, that person would have had to know the Wi-Fi password.”

The indictment also states that a forensic analysis of May's phone found that he had deleted Kik, Telegram, Mega and Loki Messenger within seconds of each other in April 2024.

The memo further alleged that May's activity on Kik showed that he has "a sexual interest in children the same age as his own children" and a "sexual interest in incest" between young children and their parents.

“May engaged in this behavior on his cell phone and from his own home on multiple occasions, presumably without his wife’s knowledge,” the memo reads. “If he can hide this criminal activity from the person he shares a bedroom with, then he can easily hide it from any court enforcement mechanism. Furthermore, there is evidence that he has recently traveled to South America to engage in commercial sex, again presumably without his wife’s knowledge that he ever even left the country. Thus, he is very likely to be able to evade detection by court enforcement of release conditions.”

The indictment did not contain additional information about the charges. If convicted, May could face between five to 20 years in prison.

Judge Shiva Hodges ordered that May remain in custody prior to his trial, according to WISTV.

Following his election to the House in 2020, May helped to create the Freedom Caucus, which organized the most conservative members of the state's House. The group has run their own candidate for House Speaker and are resistant to joining the Republican Majority Caucus because it requires a loyalty pledge.

The Freedom Caucus issued a statement on Wednesday saying they had kicked May out of the group following his arrest. May has also been suspended from his role in the South Carolina House of Representatives, according to a letter from South Carolina House Speaker Murrell Smith.

The congressman was a vocal conservative voice in the House.

“We as legislators have an obligation to insure that our children have no harm done to them,” May said in January 2024 during a debate on transgender care for minors.

The Independent has requested comment from May.