GOP lawmaker with 'joebidennnn69' screen name to plead guilty to sharing
child sex abuse videos
[September 27, 2025]
By JEFFREY COLLINS
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Republican member of the South Carolina House
who prosecutors say used the screen name “joebidennnn69” agreed Friday
to plead guilty to distributing sexual abuse material involving
children.
RJ May signed court papers to change his plea a few days after a hearing
where prosecutors laid out how they would present their evidence in
May's trial next month. May, who does not have a law degree, is acting
as his own attorney.
The Republican, who resigned earlier this year, is accused of using
“joebidennnn69” to exchange 220 different files of toddlers and young
children involved in sex acts on the Kik social media network for about
five days in spring 2024, according to court documents that graphically
detailed the videos.
May, 38, is pleading guilty to five counts and faces five to 20 years in
prison on each charge. He will have to register as a sex offender and
could be fined up to $250,000, according to his plea agreement.
May is scheduled to be in federal court Monday to officially change his
plea. He has been in jail since June after a judge refused bond
following his arrest.
May acted as his own attorney at a hearing that included prosecutors
showing charts explaining in stark, factual ways what was on each video
May is charged with distributing.
During the hearing, May made arguments to the judge to throw out the
warrant used to search his home, laptop and mobile devices. She had not
ruled on the request before May approached prosecutors about pleading
guilty Wednesday.
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South Carolina Rep. RJ May, R-West Columbia, walks down the aisle of
the House on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Columbia, South Carolina.
(AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, file)
May also was trying to keep out any evidence about whether he used a
fake name to travel to Colombia three times. Prosecutors said they
found videos on his laptop of him allegedly having sex with three
women. A Homeland Security agent testified the women appeared to be
underage and were paid. U.S. agents have not been able to locate the
women.
Prosecutors said they linked May to uploading and downloading the
child sexual abuse videos by showing he multitasked, emailing work
files, making phone calls and doing web searches as part of his job
as a political consultant as he was on Kik asking for “Bad moms. Bad
dads. Bad pre teens.”
May was in his third term in the South Carolina House when he was
arrested. After his election in 2020, he helped create the Freedom
Caucus, a group of the House’s most conservative members who say
mainstream House Republicans aren’t the true conservative heart of
the GOP. He also helped the campaigns of Republicans running against
GOP House incumbents.
“We as legislators have an obligation to insure that our children
have no harm done to them,” May said in January 2024 on the House
floor during a debate on transgender care for minors.
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