What's the over/under on RJ May getting a tRump pardon, I wonder? Since he's a tRump ass-kisser, I expect he'll be pardoned before the end of tRump's term.
At any rate, the old adage of those who bark loudest have the most to hide certainly rings true here.
1/14/2026: "Robert John “RJ” May, III, 39, of West Columbia, has been sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distributing (CP).
"Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that in May 2024 the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip indicated that on March 31, 2024, 50 videos containing CP were uploaded using Kik, a mobile file sharing application, from a West Columbia IP address. LCSD executed search warrants to determine where the videos originated and discovered the IP address was registered to Robert John May. Furthermore, they discovered the Kik account, “joebidennnn69”, contained 220 unique videos and distributed 479 videos to over 100 Kik users over five days. The account user also communicated explicitly with other users about CP by sending and receiving over 1,100 messages.
Because May was a sitting member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, the case was referred to Homeland Security Investigations. HSI executed a search warrant on May’s home in August 2024 and seized 35 electronic devices, including May’s phone. A forensic analysis of May’s phone revealed the phone contained a Kik app in March and April 2024 that was subsequently deleted. May’s user dictionary, a feature that stores commonly typed phrases on a cellphone, contained the term “joebidennnn” along with an email address that connected him to the joebidennnn69 account. Analysis of May’s phone and the Kik records revealed the 479 videos were sent using either May’s home IP address or IP addresses associated with his cellphone.
Over the five-day period for which data was available, May distributed 220 unique videos, which he sent to 100 different users in 18 states and six countries. The videos included toddlers depicted in physical pain and extreme and humiliating sexual abuse. At sentencing, the court heard from victims through written victim impact statements on the lasting harm caused by their abuse and the continued distributions."
RJ May fired off a series of texts from his Lexington County home the day after Easter last year while he and other South Carolina lawmakers were on a legislative break.
“Amen. Happy Easter,” he wrote in one message.
A minute and 10 seconds earlier, he had sent another type of message:
“How amateur is amateur?”
He sent that question, federal prosecutors allege, during a three-minute span in which he texted videos containing graphic CP.
Then he returned to exchanging Easter greetings.
Hiding behind the username “joebidennnn69,” May allegedly sent or received more than 1,000 messages containing CP during a six-day stretch from March 30, 2024, to April 4, 2024, according to the criminal case filed against him.
Four days later on April 8, state Rep. Robert John May III returned to the floor of the S.C. House of Representatives, business as usual. Better known as RJ, he was fully and unmistakably himself — or at least a version of himself the public was used to seeing.
The firebrand with the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus had earned a reputation for sparring with fellow Republicans whether from his chair on the House floor or from the lectern. He often lingered in the Statehouse lobby, schmoozing with power brokers. He gravitated toward cameras, courted media attention and plotted strategy with allies as a central player in the Freedom Caucus' efforts to reshape the GOP agenda.
A year and a half later, May sits behind bars inside the Edgefield County jail facing a federal indictment on 10 counts of distributing CP. Prosecutors allege some of the thousands of images and videos showed adults — even parents — sexually abusing children as young as toddlers and infants. Some content depicted bestiality, they allege...
In interviews with The Post and Courier, 22 friends, colleagues and critics reflected on a man who they say betrayed them. Months later, some still can’t believe this case is happening.
May ran their campaigns. May guided their political decision-making. May became a trusted friend in times of need.
Some hesitantly admitted he was trusted around their children...
One politico described the unfolding allegations as like watching a terrible true-crime show written in real time.
“It’s horrifying,” said Rep. April Cromer, an Anderson County Republican and vice chair of the Freedom Caucus. "I didn't know RJ May. He obviously lived two lives, and the one that I knew was the fake RJ.”...
During May’s time in the S.C. House representing constituents in Lexington County, he was the primary sponsor of 45 bills. Most were memorial or celebratory measures to honor people in the community. One bill called for allowing President Donald Trump to be buried on Statehouse grounds. It was filed during Trump’s first term. But during the 2025 session, after federal authorities raided May's home, he sponsored none.
The legislation that he historically signed on to was more telling of the direction he wanted to see politics take in the state: anti-vaccine mandates, extreme abortion bans, harsher immigration policies and ensuring parental rights.
He was particularly vehement about protecting children, and he often railed against what he saw as liberal agendas aimed at children.
In a 2023 interview with The Post and Courier, May attacked the state and national library associations. He accused them of advocating for books that “expose children” to “a radical library catalog of transgenderism, prostitution, masturbation, erotica, you know, other topics that are best reserved for adults.”
He added, “There are books and organizations that are pushing materials that are neither age or subject appropriate … you can look at a number of titles, one specifically, trans-plus sex relationship and romance that teaches middle school students how to tuck their penises and bind their breasts. There are other books that depict graphic rape scenes and school shootings.”
Colleagues of May recall him constantly — almost obsessively — speaking about the need to protect children. His social media posts offer a look into his takes on the subject.
“Wonder if this includes exposing children to drag shows or pushing sex changes on toddlers?” May tweeted Nov. 24, 2022, after Elon Musk posted a comment about eliminating child exploitation.
Some now suspect these rants were performative in nature, and that May was just trying to score political points with voters.
“I think it was all transactional, like I think he has a sociopathic proclivity to exploit other people's opinions for his own personal gain,” said Rep. Micah Caskey, a Lexington Republican who has been a vocal critic of the Freedom Caucus...
