Politicians getting associated with sexual abuse is nothing new. So, for many, it might not be surprising anymore to find out that a Republican lawmaker in South Carolina was charged with sexual abuse of children; moreover, the Republican lawmaker even used the online guise of “joebidennnn69” during his criminal transactions.
38-year-old RJ May is the Republican lawmaker in question, and he’s a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. The politician was arrested and jailed on June 12 in his Lexington County home following a federal investigation. Authorities discovered over 220 different files of toddlers and children involved in sexual acts distributed on the Kik social media app. RJ May was also accused of using “joebidennnn69” as his moniker on Kik while exchanging these explicit files.
Prosecutors were even shocked that some of the children in the explicit material appeared to be the same age as RJ May’s children. For this, they ask that May be denied bail for his alleged crimes.
The South Carolina lawmaker has since been charged with 10 counts of distributing sexual abuse material involving children, with each charge carrying a possible 5- to 20-year prison sentence if RJ May is found guilty. What’s even more disturbing is that back in 2024, RJ May’s election campaign involved the protection of children and the creation of the Freedom Caucus group for conservative House Representatives to exercise that vision.
“We as legislators have an obligation to ensure that our children have no harm done to them,” said RJ May back in 2024, transcript courtesy of Associated Press
Freedom Caucus has since kicked RJ May out of the group a day before the results of the federal investigation at his home were revealed. May now has a lawyer representing him and is due for a trial. May’s lawyer also argued in defense of their client that someone else could’ve used the congressman’s Wi-Fi at home.
A Recurring Theme?
The Kik activity using “joebidennnn69” isn’t the only scandal that RJ May got himself into, as the congressman is also under another investigation. The South Carolina lawmaker is suspected of using another fake name to travel to Colombia three times to allegedly pay for sex with three seemingly underage girls based on the videos on his laptop.
Meanwhile, people and critics online have expressed equal amounts of distress and a lack of surprise, as this isn’t exactly the first time a politician was caught with illegal activity involving children. Naturally, some have pointed out the irony in May’s political and ideological beliefs in contrast to his criminal activity. Others are worried that someone might step in to absolve RJ May if he is found guilty.
“Something about being the ones you most expect,” says Competitive-Elk-5077
“Do we need to do an exhaustive investigation into the constant child porn / child abuse links to US government officials? This is starting to look like the Catholic Church circa the 90’s (and 2000’s etc),” questions briareus08
“‘Give him a pardon and fast track him to Secretary of Baby Pictures’—Trump Administration,” jokes another Reddit user
