South Carolina GOP Rep. RJ May, a founding member of the state’s ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, has been charged with 10 counts of distributing child sexual abuse material. The charges for May carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence, with a minimum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.''
Judge Shiva Hodges ordered May to remain detained, and he was also suspended from his role in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Several videos contained child sex abuse from an account with the username “joebidennnn69.” Investigators found at least 10 of those videos had been shared from that account. They connected it with May’s mobile device and home IP address, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina found, WCSW reports.
BREAKING: Federal indictment shows SC Rep. RJ May (R-Lexington) is facing 10 counts of distribution of child sex abuse material. Indictment alleges May used aliases including “joebidennnn69” on the social media app Kik and “knowingly did distribute child pornography.” pic.twitter.com/jJ2JgpXLMd
— Mary Green (@MaryGreenNews) June 12, 2025
Via WISTV:
Documents also state that a forensic analysis of May’s phone showed he deleted Kik as well as other apps Telegram, Mega and Loki Messenger, within seconds of each other in April 2024. It also showed May allegedly used Kik to discuss the use of Telegram and Messenger, which prosecutors noted “both of which are applications that have frequently been used by individuals engaged in CSAM activity due to their encryption and foreign ownership.”
The memo states May’s Mega account was registered to the name “Eric Rentling,” which was an alias he allegedly used to create a Facebook account in that name. Investigators found the photo associated with the Facebook account “appears to be a picture of the back of May’s head.”
Investigators also found the Eric Rentling account had conversations in Spanish with women from Colombia that “consisted largely of arranging ‘meet up’ dates, time, price negotiations, and rules regarding the videoing of sexual encounters, all of which are indicative of sex work.” May would also allegedly conduct Facebook searches on South Carolina political candidates while on the Eric Rentling account, including those of his most recent primary opponent.
The memo further states May’s activity on Kik revealed “he has a sexual interest in children the same age as his own children” and that he has “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.”
Last August, federal Homeland Security Investigations agents seized nearly three-dozen devices, including cellphones, hard drives, and thumb drives, from May, according to an unsealed court document filed in October.
May, who has two children, is not a drag queen, a trans individual, or a librarian. He is a Republican.
