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.
“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.
FILE - Republican South Carolina Rep. R.J. May of Lexington sits at his new desk during the organizational session for the House on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins,File)
FILE - 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)
