Ex-Republican South Carolina House member admits to distributing
hundreds of child sex abuse videos
[September 30, 2025]
By JEFFREY COLLINS
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Former Republican South Carolina Rep. RJ May
admitted in court Monday that he sent hundreds of videos of children
being sexually abused to people across the country on social media.
May pleaded guilty to what prosecutors in court papers called a
“five-day child pornography spree” in the spring of 2024.
May, who resigned earlier this year, is accused of using the screen name
“joebidennnn69” to exchange 220 different files of toddlers and young
children involved in sex acts on the Kik social media network, according
to court documents that graphically detailed the videos.
“Bear with me. This is very hard to read,” U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling
said as he haltingly read a brief description of each video for
television reporters outside of court since cameras aren't allowed in
federal courtrooms.
May, 38, pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing the videos 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.
The five counts represented the worst videos May shared, Stirling said.
Felony convictions bar May from voting or having a weapon
The felony convictions means the political consultant and National Rifle
Association member cannot vote, hold public office, carry a gun or serve
on a jury the rest of his life.
May's sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 14 — the second day of the South
Carolina legislature's 2026 session.
The evidence against May included logs of his laptop and cellphone use,
showing he was uploading and downloading the child sexual abuse videos
at the same time he was emailing work files, making phone calls, doing
web searches and messaging someone on Kik asking for “Bad moms. Bad
dads. Bad pre teens.”
May mostly spent Monday's hourlong hearing answering the judge's
questions. At the end, when Judge Cameron McGowan Currie asked May if he
had anything else he wanted to say, May answered, “not at this time,
your honor.”
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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 changed his mind about pleading guilty after hearing
May changed his mind and decided to plead guilty just hours after a
Wednesday pretrial hearing in which he acted as his own attorney.
During Wednesday's hearing, May made arguments to the judge to throw
out the warrant used to search his home, laptop and mobile devices.
She denied May's request just hours after prosecutors filed
documents detailing May's plea on Friday.
Prosecutors showed May used his phone to upload and download videos
through his cell network and home wireless network and also showed
him charts explaining in stark, factual ways what was on each video
May is charged with distributing.
May also tried 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 on the trips. 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.
May admitted to using the fake name Monday in court but was not
asked about the videos.
May was a rising Republican political force in South Carolina
May was in his third term in the South Carolina House and was
attacking fellow Republicans to go in a more conservative direction
before he resigned.
“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.
After his election in 2020, he helped create the Freedom Caucus. He
also helped the campaigns of Republicans running against GOP House
incumbents.
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