Federal prosecutors are pressing charges against a South Carolina Republican lawmaker following a months-long investigation into heinous pornography allegedly depicting children as young as toddlers.
Republican state House Representative Robert John “R.J.” May has been charged with a 10-count indictment for allegedly distributing child sexual abuse material. He was arrested on Wednesday after months of speculation surrounding the search of a house belonging to May in August 2024 by Homeland Security officers.
Prosecutors have demanded that May not be given bail because he lives at home with his wife and two children, who are allegedly close to the same age as the children in the case.
He has never publicly addressed the speculation about the search, as one political opponent, Brian Duncan, said in an interview.
“We thought that R.J. May would probably come out a long time ago … and just say something about the search,” he said. Duncan has launched a last-minute write-in campaign in May’s South Carolina District 88 in light of the latest developments in the investigation of May.
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According to the State, Homeland Security Investigations officials seized from May’s home a laptop, a tablet, four cell phones, four hard drives, four SD cards, two DVD-Rs, and 19 thumb drives. The search was executed after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was tipped off by a social messaging app called Kik, which had flagged several graphic child pornography videos linked to the username “joebidennnn69.”
This account was connected to May’s home IP address and mobile device, where investigators “found at least 10 videos depicting child sexual abuse that were shared from the account,” according to a DOJ press release. Federal prosecutors alleged that May used several different usernames “to exchange 220 obscene files containing extremely graphic footage of children and toddlers engaged in sex acts on the messaging app Kik over five days last spring,” the New York Post reported.
The Associated Press reported that May’s defense lawyer suggested that “someone could have used the Wi-Fi password that was shown on a board behind a photo May’s wife may have posted online.” Prosecutors have demanded that May not be given bail because he lives at home with his wife and two children, who are allegedly close to the same age as the children in the case.
If convicted, May faces a minimum of five years and up to 20 years in federal prison, a fine of $250,000, and at least five years of supervised release following any period of imprisonment.
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May has been described as a “hardline conservative” in the past and was the founder of the House Freedom Caucus.
“We as legislators have an obligation to ensure that our children have no harm done to them,” May said at a January 2024 debate about gender-related interventions for minors.
May is running a formally unchallenged re-election campaign for a third term in the 88th District, though Duncan has taken the unusual step of initiating a write-in challenge. Duncan, a business owner and a 20-year Air National Guard veteran, said that he would have run sooner had he known about the charges.
“I know it’s an uphill battle, but the flip side of that is the people of District 88 have absolutely no choice,” Duncan said.
It is unclear when May will next appear in court.
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