RJ May, a 38-year-old Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, just made a bold move. He intends to plead guilty to five counts of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse imagery. The powerful legislator—who was in his third term—was arrested. Together, he now must face these new draconian penalties, including decades of mandatory prison time and lifetime mandatory registration as a sex offender. He’s been jailed since June when a state judge overturned bond for him.
RJ May will be back in federal court to formally change his plea. Under the screen name “joebidennnn69” he traded over 220 files. Together with colleagues, she presented evidence that these files showed toddlers and young children in sexual acts, disseminated on the Kik social media network. Prosecutors announced his truly monstrous behavior. During his spring 2024 stint as a political consultant, he became increasingly desensitized while simultaneously uploading and downloading extremely graphic videos.
According to the plea agreement, an appropriate sentence for May would be five to 20 years in prison per count. In addition to any prison time, he is looking at up to $250,000 in fines. He will serve time in jail as a criminal sentence. Besides his time in prison, this prosecution forces him to register as a sex offender, a lifetime consequence of this act.
Throughout his tenure, RJ May played the role of the uncompromising tea party right. He was instrumental in the creation of the Freedom Caucus, bringing together the House’s most hard-right members. Perhaps the largest testament to his active role in state politics is his support for Republican candidates running against incumbent party members. After his arrest, RJ May resigned from his position earlier this year.
Throughout that hearing, he testified pro se. In crisp and clear testimony, the prosecutors walked through the evidence, including elaborate charts to show what kind of videos May is accused of distributing. In one such soul searching statement regarding his relentless pursuit of the bad moms, bad dads and bad pre teens. His remarks have been met with the condemnation and alarm by many primarily because… .
Given all of this, it’s no surprise that many parents, legislators, and advocates are starting to ask what lawmakers should be doing to protect children. RJ May himself stated previously, “We as legislators have an obligation to ensure that our children have no harm done to them.” This promise now rings painfully empty as he awaits his own sentencing.