|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
by ANDY FANCHER
***
In a packed federal courtroom on Wednesday, former South Carolina lawmaker RJ May III was sentenced to nearly 18 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography while simultaneously seeking reelection as a hard-right GOP firebrand in 2024.
“I make no excuses. I am guilty of my crimes,” May, 39, told U.S. District judge Cameron Currie during an emotional, two-and-a-half-hour sentencing hearing in Columbia. “It was a progressing disease I didn’t recognize until it was too late.”
Once a seated lawmaker in the South Carolina State House, May stood before the court shackled at the waist and ankles in a striped detention-center jumpsuit marked “ECDC.” His overgrown beard, wavy hair and puffy eyes underscored that transformation.
He pleaded for a 60-month sentence and blamed what he described as a crippling pornography addiction for downloading Kik, registering the username “joebidennnn69” and using the account to distribute more than 200 child pornography videos over a five-day period.
The child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was subsequently received by more than 100 users across 18 states, six countries and three continents, according to prosecutors within the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They declined to say whether any additional arrests have been made.
Those same prosecutors, however, reiterated details that again left little ambiguity about the nature of the material May sought and shared — emphasizing that it involved babies, toddlers and school-aged children, including incest involving fathers and daughters.
May was ultimately indicted on 10 charges tied to 11 minutes and 5 seconds of that content, but later pleaded guilty to five charges.
***
RELATED | POLITICAL TIES AND HARD DRIVES: THE FALL OF RJ MAY
***
“My marriage was stagnant,” May told a courtroom filled with reporters and family members, adding that he struggled with anxiety, depression and a hormone deficiency for which he was prescribed testosterone in 2022. “My brain was hijacked. I spiraled out of control.”
That spiral included more than 1,100 explicit communications involving CSAM over a five-day period beginning Easter Sunday 2024. May said his “moral compass” shifted on April 4, 2024, the day Kik removed his account for violating the platform’s terms of service.
He said he subsequently returned to viewing adult pornography.
Sixteen weeks later, May said additional addictions — including caffeine, nicotine and educational lottery gambling — ended abruptly after agents with the Department of Homeland Security executed a search warrant and seized 35 electronic devices from his West Columbia home.
Now more than a year after that search and roughly seven months after his subsequent indictment and detention, May said “everything” reminds him of his two children, whom he has not seen since his arrest. Holding back tears, May described the moments he said he would miss, including teaching his 7-year-old son how to fish and taking part in tea parties with his 3-year-old daughter.
***
“Inevitably, the memories my children have of me will fade,” May echoed in a letter to the court ahead of Wednesday’s sentencing. “Soon the features of my face and the sound of my voice will be unrecognizable to them. Each hour of my existence now drags slowly and fills my heart, mind, and soul with immeasurable sorrow.”
Despite his statements in both writing and open court, along with written and oral remarks from family members, Currie sentenced May to 210 months — or 17.5 years — in federal prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release and $58,500 in restitution to eight victims.
Higher than the 12-year average for similar offenses, the sentence fell slightly short of the 20-year maximum sought by federal prosecutors but far exceeded the five-year sentence requested by May and his federal public defenders.
In pronouncing the sentence, Currie said the evidence submitted against May was among the “most severe” she had seen in her 32 years as a judge, reiterating that the material involved “incest, force rape and humiliation.”
“This was not a one-off,” the judge continued, adding that May’s conduct occurred while he was engaged in political consulting and public duties and reflected what she described as predatory behavior at a “sophisticated level.”
***
“INCALCULABLE…”
***
Wednesday’s sentencing marked the end of a case that began in earnest in May 2024, when a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) was forwarded to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department (LCSD). The department patrols the district May represented and is led by sheriff Bryan “Jay” Koon, a former client of May’s political consulting firm.
Following the execution of multiple search warrants that identified May as a central figure in a brief but prolific CSAM distribution hub, the case was referred to agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The existence of that probe was not made public until weeks after the June 2024 primary, when FITSNews broke that May’s home had been raided.
Despite subsequent confirmation of the nature of that raid, May coasted to reelection against only a write-in challenger and faced no public condemnation from fellow members of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus. He then attended every day of the 2025 legislative session, at times speaking with other reporters while declining to respond to repeated inquiries from FITSNews.
Come Wednesday, May’s voting record as a hard-right GOP lawmaker was turned against him in federal court, as prosecutors pointed to specific instances in which he supported legislation framed around protecting children and punishing those who violate those laws. They argued the conduct constituted an abuse of public trust.
“Mr. May, of all people, knew better,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott B. Daniels said, describing the former lawmaker’s push for the lightest possible sentence as “too rich” given his consistent support for criminalization in other contexts. “His history in public service hurts him here.”
Adding to that hurt, Daniels read a victim impact statement from one of the 60 victims identified in the videos May distributed worldwide. The victim appeared in Count Four of the indictment — a video compilation depicting minor females performing sexual acts on men.
According to prosecutors, that compilation was distributed by May on two separate occasions to two different Kik users.
In her brutally detailed written statement, the now-adult victim said she was abused between the ages of thee and six and groomed by her guardian to believe sexual activity with adults was normal. Initially bribed with candy, she described the “incalculable” damage caused by knowing that predators worldwide continue to view her “tiny body.”
In addition to the victims who have been identified, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Matthews told FITSNews that roughly 40 children remain unidentified.
***
“HELL HIMSELF…”
***
During May’s sentencing, Matthews and Daniels also focused on a Facebook alias used by May — “Eric Rentling.” May previously admitted to operating under that alias, which prosecutors said was tied to multiple trips to Colombia, where he recorded roughly 90 minutes of sexual encounters with at least three “young” women.
Prosecutors said those encounters were filmed from a first-person perspective using a GoPro-style camera and depicted what they described as “physically violent” sexual conduct, including footage showing a woman being “slapped” and “crying.” According to the government, one video shows the bridge of May’s thumb turning white under pressure.
May’s federal public defenders, Jenny Smith and Jeremy Thompson, argued there was “nothing to indicate” May sought any sexual encounter with a minor in Colombia and contended that the slap amounted to a “passing touch” to the side of a woman’s head, while the crying was merely “eyes watering” followed by smiling.
Smith submitted two screenshots from the videos to the court, and Currie ultimately ruled she would not consider the alleged aggressive nature of May’s actions in Colombia.
Defense counsel also detailed May’s childhood, particularly in the pre-sentence investigation report, describing years of physical and emotional abuse suffered by May and his younger sister at the hands of their mother, who struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction and is now deceased. The report further states that May witnessed three murders by the age of 13.
Daniels acknowledged that May’s early years were “difficult,” but argued that May later had “the world by his fingertips” after moving into his father’s home. Federal court filings note that May went on to excel academically, becoming a member of the National Honor Society, maintaining a near-perfect GPA and graduating in the top 10 percent of his high school class.
May’s father and sister delivered the only witness statements presented ahead of sentencing, echoing those themes as they contrasted the man they knew with the federal child pornography offenses that led to his conviction.
***
***
“It’s so hard for me to wrap my mind around this,” May’s father, Robert, told the court in an emotional statement, breaking down in tears as he described the toll the case has taken on his family. “He must feel like hell himself for all he has done.”
During his testimony, Robert May said he had visited his son’s home office that morning, where he noticed “a corner filled with toys he’ll never watch his children play with” — a reality he attributed to what he called his son’s “sick and ever-spiraling fall.”
“I can’t believe what he has done to himself,” May’s father said. “I am totally broken.”
That strain was evident in the final witness statement from May’s younger sister, Megan, who thanked the special agents and authorities involved in investigating and arresting her brother, saying she viewed their actions as having been “sent to rescue him from his addiction.”
Like their father, she described sharply different experiences with May over the course of their lives, recalling him as once “pure” and “caring.” She spoke of his presence — and their mother’s absence — at milestones including her high school and college graduations and the birth of her first child.
“My experience with RJ has been drastically different than what you have heard today,” May’s sister said in a tearful statement. “RJ, I love you,” she added, looking toward her brother. “You’ve been a great big brother to me.”
Both May’s father and sister expressed in their written and oral statements their belief that he retains the capacity to return to the person he once was.
Following his release, May said he hopes to return to his home state of Virginia, where he plans to live and work on his father’s rural 29-acre farm and resume his father’s landscaping business while beginning to pay restitution and provide financial support for his children.
He also told the court he hopes to establish a nonprofit organization aimed at combating child sexual abuse material.
“Good luck to you, Mr. May,” Currie said at the hearing’s end.
“Thank you, Your Honor,” May responded.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
(Dynal Nolan/FITSNews)
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.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
