Ex-lawmaker who advocated protecting kids gets 17 years in prison for
sharing child sex abuse videos
[January 15, 2026]
By JEFFREY COLLINS
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A former Republican lawmaker in South Carolina was
sentenced Wednesday to 17 1/2 years in prison for sending hundreds of
videos of children being sexually abused to people across the country on
social media around the same time he was advocating for laws meant to
protect kids.
“He claimed to be their advocate by sponsoring bills in the legislature,
but he was their abuser with videos that will live on forever,” the
judge said.
RJ May had sought a shorter sentence, saying he was addicted to
pornography and screens. He apologized briefly to the victims in a
15-minute statement to the court. He said he began watching adult
pornography when testosterone treatments increased his sex drive, and
then sought out more extreme videos when he was lonely at night.
“I was talking about moral decency by day and succumbed to moral
indecency by night,” May said.
Judge Cameron McGowan Currie sentenced him in federal court just blocks
from where May had served in the South Carolina House.
May, 39, resigned before pleading guilty in September for what
prosecutors called a “five-day child pornography spree” in the spring of
2024. Court documents described in graphic detail how he allegedly used
the screen name “joebidennnn69” to exchange 220 different files of
toddlers and young children on the Kik social media network.
Prosecutors said May sought out images of minors being sexually abused
by their parents and revictimized those children every time he re-shared
those files with others.
“We're talking about toddlers being raped,” assistant U.S. Attorney
Elliott Daniels said.
Federal authorities also found videos of May, recorded using a camera on
top of his head, appearing to sexually abuse women in the country of
Colombia. His hands were around the throat of one. Another was in tears.
Agents spent a month overseas trying to find the women, who appeared
underage, but couldn't locate them, prosecutors said.
The judge considered the videos in giving May a sentence in the middle
of the federal guidelines.
“We do think it shows RJ May was a hands-on abuser. We do think it shows
predatory and violent physical sex. He's not just a guy on a screen,”
Daniels said.
Prosecutors said May's crimes showed extra hypocrisy as he voted eight
times for laws protecting children or strengthening penalties for
abusing them.
May also wrote an apology note to the judge, in which he asked for a
five-year sentence, pointing out he will never watch his son's soccer
games or have tea in his home with his daughter again. He said he lost
his six-figure job as a political consultant, his wife is divorcing him,
he has no money and details of his crimes have been news around the
world.
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South Carolina Rep. RJ May, R-West Columbia, walks down the aisle of
the House on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Columbia, South Carolina.
(AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins,File)
“It took me nearly 40 years to build a life I'm proud of. And I
destroyed it in an instant. But I can rebuild it again,” May said.
May's request for mercy included seven letters from relatives
detailing how May had overcome his mother's abuse, getting a
scholarship to study Middle Eastern Studies at the American
University in Dubai. His father promised May could live and work on
his Virginia farm when he is released.
Prosecutors included statements from several victims detailing how
the videos keep being passed around and haunt them well into their
adulthood. One victim was a toddler when she was abused and
continues to get hundreds of notifications a year that her video is
involved in more criminal investigations.
Kik reported the content May shared to authorities. The app then
notified May who deleted it immediately. The social media app
promised anonymity but also shared posts with police.
May was ordered to pay $58,500 in restitution. He must register as a
sex offender and can't vote or own a gun as a convicted felon. He
also must serve 20 years of probation when he is released from
prison.
Before his arrest, the third-term state representative was accusing
fellow Republicans of being insufficiently conservative. “We as
legislators have an obligation to ensure that our children have no
harm done to them,” May said in January 2024 during a House debate
on transgender care for minors.
May's father, sister and several other relatives attended his
sentencing, and some winced as prosecutors graphically described the
videos. Then they told the judge about May being a loving son,
father, brother and nephew, and how they can't ever understand why
he sought out children being abused.
May didn't look up until his sister turned to him, shackled at the
defense table, and said “I love you RJ.”
His head then hung lower.
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