Republican who said trans healthcare ‘harms’ kids pleads guilty to child sex abuse imagery charges

A former South Carolina Republican representative who backed drag and trans healthcare bans “to protect childhood innocence”, has pleaded guilty to distributing sexual abuse material involving children.

RJ May III, 38, resigned his seat in the state house of representative in August after he was arrested and charged with 10 counts of distributing sexual abuse material involving children two months earlier.

The charges alleged that May used the screen name “joebidennnn69” to share the content on the messaging app Kik, which the authorities linked to his home IP address and mobile device.

The case was due to be heard in October but May admitted the offences as part of a plea deal on Monday (29 September). Five of the 10 charges were dropped in exchange him agreeing to give up his rights to a jury trial, to vote, to hold public office, carry a gun and serve on a jury.

US attorney for the state, Bryan Stirling, told reporters that the five remaining counts represented the worst of the content shared, and were “some of the most depraved stuff I’ve ever seen or heard about”.

According to ABC Columbia Stirling said: “These actions of Richard John May are deplorable, depraved and disgusting,” and the plea deal ensured “he will serve time in the federal penitentiary”.

He went on to say: “We have 21 victims we were able to identify, 62 overall. The conduct found more than 200 unique videos, each one showing a child being sexually abused: infants, toddlers, the most vulnerable among us.”

May is due to be sentenced in January and faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge. He could be fined $250,000 (£186,000) and will have to register as a sex offender.

South Carolina representative Nancy Mace, who is running to be governor, said: “The allegations against former South Carolina state representative RJ May aren’t just vile, they’re evil. His guilty plea proves it. He betrayed children, the public trust and the most-basic standards of human decency.”

Two years ago, May, who had sat in the house of representatives since 2020, said a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender youngsters was about “protecting childhood innocence”. He was also on record backing bans on trans inclusion in sport and drag performances.

“This is about preventing children from going through life-altering surgeries,” he claimed. “As a state, we say that they can’t make a decision on a tattoo, they can’t make a decision on purchasing alcohol, they can’t make a decision on voting, yet we’re going to allow them to have permanent, life-altering surgery.”

May labelled drag shows inherently sexual and backed a ban on anyone under the age of 18 watching the events. “Children should not attend any sort of adult entertainment where folks have sexualised agendas. That’s beyond the pale,” he said.

Early last year, during a house debate, he said: “We as legislators have an obligation to ensure that our children have no harm done to them.”

A special election will be held in December to fill the vacant seat. Five Republicans and one Democrat have filed for the race.

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