Latest news with #RJMay
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Republican in South Carolina arrested over distribution of child sexual abuse material
A Republican member of South Carolina's state house whom prosecutors say used the screen name 'joebidennnn69' has been arrested and charged with 10 counts of distributing sexual abuse material involving children. RJ May was arrested at his Lexington county home after a lengthy investigation and was ordered Thursday by a federal judge to remain jailed until his trial. The three-term Republican is accused of using 'joebidennnn69' to exchange 220 files of toddlers and young children involved in sex acts on the Kik social media network for about five days in spring 2024, according to court documents that graphically detailed the videos. During that timeframe, Joe Biden was in the final year of his presidency before May's fellow Republican Donald Trump won the November 2024 election to return to the White House in January. Each charge against May carries a five-to-20-year prison sentence upon conviction. Prosecutors suggested May could spend more than a decade in prison if found guilty. The files at the center of the case were uploaded and downloaded using May's home wifi network and his cellphone, prosecutors said. Some were hidden by the use of a private network, but others were directly linked to his internet addresses. At his arraignment, May's lawyer suggested someone could have used the wifi password that was shown on a board behind a photo May's wife may have posted online. Attorney Dayne Phillips also suggested investigators didn't link each Kik message directly to May. Prosecutors asked that May, 38, not be given bail because he lives at home with his wife and young children, and some of the files he is accused of sharing feature children of about the same age as his. Prosecutors said they also investigated whether May had used a fake name to travel to Colombia three times after finding videos on his laptop of him allegedly having sex with three girls or women. An agent from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) testified the three appeared to be underage and were paid. Agents have not been able to locate the three. Prosecutors said May created a Facebook account with his fake name, and his internet history showed him switching between his real account and the fake one – and even searching his primary opponent from the fake login. Phillips, May's lawyer, told the courtroom that no sexual images of toddlers or young children were found directly on his laptop or cellphone. After spending the night in jail, May appeared in court Thursday in shorts and a T-shirt with his wrists and ankles in cuffs. After being ordered to stay in jail, he appeared to blow a kiss to his wife, who was at the hearing. After May's election in 2020, he helped create the Freedom caucus, a group of the house's most conservative members who say mainstream Republicans in the chamber aren't the true conservative heart of their party. He also helped the campaigns of Republicans running against the party's house incumbents. '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. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion His son charmed the house in April 2021 when May brought him to visit for his third birthday, and the boy practiced his parade wave around the chamber. The Freedom caucus released a statement Wednesday night saying they'd kicked May out of their group after his arrest. Many of his one-time friends distanced themselves from May as rumors of the investigation spread through the South Carolina statehouse. During the current session, he could largely be seen at his corner desk in the back of the 124-seat chamber, mixing with very few colleagues. The house speaker suspended May from his seat after the indictment. May's lawyer suggested he could have been framed and asked the DHS agent if she knew that May had a lot of political enemies. 'There are a fair amount of people who don't like me either, Mr Phillips,' agent Britton Lorenzen replied. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
House GOP leader files ethics complaint against South Carolina lawmaker indicted on federal child sex crime charges
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) — A top Republican in the South Carolina House is calling for the expulsion of a now-suspended state representative accused of using a social messaging app to distribute child sexual abuse material. State Rep. RJ May (R-Lexington), 38, was taken into custody June 11 in Lexington County following a more than one-year-long investigation into alleged child sexual exploitation crimes. A Greenville grand jury indicted May on 10 counts of distributing child sexual abuse material, and a federal judge ordered him Thursday to remain behind bars while awaiting trial. House Majority Leader Davey Hiott (R-Pickens) said in a statement Friday that he has filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee to investigate 'not only Mr. May, but his business dealings with other members of the State House of Representatives.' 'First and foremost, we are deeply disturbed by the charges against Mr. May, and we stand fully behind law enforcement in ensuring that anyone who commits these crimes is punished to the fullest extent of the law,' Hiott said, adding 'The conduct these charges allege are reprehensible, vile, and have no place in our society, let alone in the House of Representatives.' It marks the first step in the process toward formally expelling May from the chamber, which would ultimately require a two-thirds vote once the ethics investigation has concluded. House Speaker Murrell Smith (R-Sumter) confirmed June 12 that May had been suspended without pay but declined further comment. State law requires the House Speaker to immediately suspend any member indicted on a felony charge in state or federal court. The suspension remains in effect until the member is acquitted, convicted, pleads guilty, or pleads no contest. The governor cannot unilaterally expel members of the General Assembly. The West Columbia lawmaker has represented District 88 since 2021 and helped form the hardline conservative South Carolina Freedom Caucus. He also founded Ivory Tusk Consulting, a political consulting and public relations firm for Republicans. Freedom Caucus Chair Jordan Pace (R-Berkeley) said May was expelled from the group following news of the indictment but has not been involved with its operations since last August. Pace, along with other members, has called for May's immediate resignation. Prosecutors said the investigation began in April 2024 after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a cyber-tip from the social messaging app Kik, which had flagged several videos depicting child sexual abuse shared from the user 'joebidennnn69.' At least 10 videos were shared from the account, which was later traced to May's West Columbia home IP address and mobile device. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations seized nearly three dozen electronic devices belonging to May last August as part of the ongoing criminal investigation, according to a federal court filing. Those included laptops, cell phones, hard drives, and other devices. A motion filed by federal prosecutors states that May used Kik to participate in 'multiple group chats dedicated to the trading of child pornography,' distributing approximately 220 different videos about 479 times over five days in early April, including instances where the same video was shared multiple times. The document contains graphic details about the contents of the videos and states that May's activity on the app 'reveals he has sexual interest in children the same age as his own [two] children' and a 'sexual interest in incest' between parents and children. This story is breaking and may be updated. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Prosecutors say Republican South Carolina lawmaker used ‘joebidennnn69' to send child sex material
COLUMBIA, South Carolina: A Republican member of the South Carolina House who prosecutors say used the screen name 'joebidennnn69' has been arrested and charged with 10 counts of distributing sexual abuse material involving children. RJ May was arrested at his Lexington County home after a lengthy investigation and was ordered Thursday by a federal judge to remain jailed until his trial. The three-term Republican is accused of using 'joebidennnn69' to exchange 220 different files of toddlers and young children involved in sex acts on the Kik social media network for about five days in spring 2024, according to court documents that graphically detailed the videos. Each charge carries a five-to-20 year prison sentence upon conviction and prosecutors suggested May could spend over a decade in prison if found guilty. The files were uploaded and downloaded using May's home Wi-Fi network and his cellphone, prosecutors said. Some were hidden by the use of a private network but others were directly linked to his Internet addresses. May says someone else could have used his Wi-Fi At his arraignment, May's lawyer suggested someone could have used the Wi-Fi password that was shown on a board behind a photo May's wife may have posted online. Attorney Dayne Phillips also suggested investigators didn't link each Kik message directly to May. Prosecutors asked that May, 38, not be given bail because he lives at home with his wife and young children, and some of the files he is accused of sharing feature children of about the same age as his. May investigated for paid sex in Colombia Prosecutors said they also investigated whether May used a fake name to travel to Colombia three times after finding videos on his laptop of him allegedly having sex with three women. An agent from the Department of Homeland Security testified the women appeared to be underage and were paid. US agents have not been able to locate the women. Prosecutors said May created a Facebook account with his fake name and his Internet history showed him switching between his real account and the fake one and even searching his primary opponent from the fake login. Phillips, May's lawyer, told the courtroom that no sexual images of toddlers or young children were found directly on his laptop or cellphone. After spending the night in jail. May appeared in court Thursday in shorts and a T-shirt with his wrists and ankles in cuffs. After being ordered to stay in jail, he appeared to blow a kiss at his wife, who was at the hearing. May's political rise to the state House After May's election in 2020, he helped create the Freedom Caucus, a group of the House's most conservative members who say mainstream House Republicans aren't the true conservative heart of the GOP. He also helped the campaigns of Republicans running against GOP House incumbents. '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. His son charmed the House in April 2021 when May brought him to visit for his third birthday and the boy practiced his parade wave around the chamber. The Freedom Caucus released a statement Wednesday night saying they kicked May out of their group after his arrest. May spent a quiet 2025 House session Many of his onetime friends have distanced themselves from May as rumors of the investigation spread through the Statehouse. During the current session he could largely be seen at his corner desk in the back of the 124-seat chamber, mixing with very few colleagues. The House Speaker suspended May from his seat after the indictment. May's lawyer suggested he could have been framed and asked the Homeland Security agent if she knew that May had a lot of political enemies. 'There are a fair amount of people who don't like me either, Mr. Phillips,' agent Britton Lorenzen replied.
Toronto Star
a day ago
- Toronto Star
Prosecutors say Republican South Carolina lawmaker used ‘joebidennnn69' to send child sex material
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Republican member of the South Carolina House who prosecutors say used the screen name 'joebidennnn69' has been arrested and charged with 10 counts of distributing sexual abuse material involving children. RJ May was arrested at his Lexington County home after a lengthy investigation and was ordered Thursday by a federal judge to remain jailed until his trial.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
South Carolina state Rep RJ May accused of distributing child sexual abuse material
A Republican lawmaker in the South Carolina House has been charged with 10 counts of distributing child sexual abuse material. RJ May was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Lexington County. His arrest on the federal charges was the culmination of a lengthy investigation into his internet activities. He appeared in federal court on Thursday. According to an indictment, the three-term Republican used several screen names, including the one referencing former President Joe Biden - "joebidennnn69" - while exchanging CSAM files on the Kik social media network. Kik notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in April 2024 of several videos containing child abuse linked to the accounts that prosecutors argue were controlled by May, according to WISTV. During a hearing on Thursday a memo including Kik data was made public showing May's alleged account had 265 videos of child abuse associated with it. The data also included IP address data linking the account to May's home Wi-Fi network. 'Agents confirmed during surveillance of the residence, and again during the search of the residence. that the Wi-Fi at the May residence was password protected,' the indictment said. 'Thus, for the [child abuse] activity on Kik to have been conducted by someone other than May, that person would have had to know the Wi-Fi password.' The indictment also states that a forensic analysis of May's phone found that he had deleted Kik, Telegram, Mega and Loki Messenger within seconds of each other in April 2024. The memo further alleged that May's activity on Kik showed that he has "a sexual interest in children the same age as his own children" and 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.' The indictment did not contain additional information about the charges. If convicted, May could face between five to 20 years in prison. Judge Shiva Hodges ordered that May remain in custody prior to his trial, according to WISTV. Following his election to the House in 2020, May helped to create the Freedom Caucus, which organized the most conservative members of the state's House. The group has run their own candidate for House Speaker and are resistant to joining the Republican Majority Caucus because it requires a loyalty pledge. The Freedom Caucus issued a statement on Wednesday saying they had kicked May out of the group following his arrest. May has also been suspended from his role in the South Carolina House of Representatives, according to a letter from South Carolina House Speaker Murrell Smith. The congressman was a vocal conservative voice in the House. 'We as legislators have an obligation to insure that our children have no harm done to them,' May said in January 2024 during a debate on transgender care for minors. The Independent has requested comment from May.
