S.C. Lawmaker Embroiled In Child Exploitation Scandal Loses Private Counsel

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A suspended South Carolina lawmaker at the center of a federal child sex abuse investigation has been appointed a taxpayer-funded attorney after telling the court he could no longer afford private counsel.

On Tuesday, S.C. House Rep. Robert John “RJ” May III appeared at the same U.S. district courthouse in downtown Columbia, S.C., where he was denied bond on a host of charges less than two weeks earlier — standing once again before the same magistrate who ordered him held pending trial.

May — a cofounder of the conservative S.C. Freedom Caucus — was arrested on June 11, 2025, on a ten-count federal indictment accusing him of distributing more than 220 child sexual abuse material (CSAM) videos under the alias “Joebidennnn69.” According to a 22-page motion (.pdf) from prosecutors, those videos included graphic footage involving the rape of infants and toddlers.

Noticeably absent from Tuesday’s hearing was Columbia-based attorney Dayne Phillips, who represented May following the August 5, 2024 raid on his home — an event that first revealed the existence of a federal investigation.

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Six days after his highly publicized arrest — during which agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) took him into custody — May revoked all powers of attorney, formally naming his wife as his legal agent.

“Defendant present without counsel,” Tuesday’s docket stated, highlighting the Republican’s financial insolvency. “Financial affidavit submitted.”

Owner and operator of the once-powerful political consulting firm, Ivory Tusk Consulting, the former advisor to countless high-profile Republicans revealed in open court that the only asset in his name is a 2017 Chevy Suburban.

According to Lexington County tax records, May paid $659.48 in taxes on this vehicle, which remains parked at his home on Lake Frances Drive in West Columbia, S.C. — a property owned by his wife and valued at more than $229,000. 

Within days of his arrest, FITSNews photographed a state vehicle — believed to belong to the S.C. Department of Social Services — parked in the driveway of May’s home. 

The agency declined to say whether it had received any complaints or opened an investigation involving May, the father of two young children.

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RELATED | POLITICAL TIES & HARD DRIVES: THE FALL OF R.J. MAY III

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Come Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Shiva V. Hodges granted May’s request for court-appointed counsel, assigning assistant federal public defender Jenny Smith to represent him moving forward.

Within hours of her appointment, Smith filed multiple motions: one requesting discovery, and another seeking advance notice if prosecutors intend to introduce evidence of any alleged “crimes, wrongs, or acts” not directly tied to the current indictment.

Hodges also signed an order on prosecutorial obligation, outlining the government’s disclosure duties as the case proceeds toward trial.

Now reassigned to U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, the case will proceed under her supervision — with a pretrial conference scheduled for August 20, 2025 and jury selection slated to begin September 10, 2025 in the capital city of Columbia.

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According to prosecutors, May downloaded Kik — a messaging app long regarded as a haven for online predators — in December 2023, but didn’t register the username “Joebidennnn69” until the Saturday before Easter, suggesting the app had sat dormant for months.

By 1:00 p.m. EDT on Easter Sunday, federal authorities allege, May was actively soliciting and distributing child pornography — sending approximately 220 different videos nearly 480 times to a network of “like-minded pedophiles” over the course of just five days.

While campaigning during a contested Republican primary, May is alleged to have deleted Kik and two other apps tied to the distribution of CSAM by the end of that same week — with no apparent activity leading up to the surge, and no pattern of similar behavior afterward.

Upon executing a search warrant at May’s home last summer, agents with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seized approximately 30 storage devices, leading investigators to uncover yet another alias purportedly linked to May: “Eric Rentling.”

According to DHS Special Agent Britton Lorenzen — who testified during May’s arraignment — the Facebook account under the name “Eric Rentling” was used to message, negotiate, and arrange dalliances with sex workers in South America.

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Lorenzen further testified that forensic analysts recovered nine videos from May’s Lenovo laptop depicting intercourse with three different women in Colombia, all of whom purportedly appeared underage — though no evidence of their ages was presented in court.

As FITSNews previously reported, DHS failed to identify a single sex worker, despite dozens appearing to engage with the “Eric Rentling” persona online — and came to court without performing a basic reverse image search on the alias’s Facebook profile photo.

Originally from Newport News, Virginia, May studied at the American University of Dubai, graduated from the University of South Carolina, and earned a master’s degree in security and diplomacy from Tel Aviv University, where he was named a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.

Likely to remain in custody until he pleads guilty or goes to trial, May faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted — with one handwritten note on a government filing suggesting prosecutors are aiming for the maximum.

This story may be updated.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. Cut from a bloodline of outlaws and lawmen alike, he was the first of his family to graduate college which was accomplished with honors. Got a story idea or news tip for Andy? Email him directly and connect with him socially across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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