Rep. RJ May, R-West Columbia, was linked to another federal case involving child sexual abuse material out of Oklahoma. (Photo by Mary Ann Chastain/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)
An Oklahoma man is facing charges of asking a person investigators believe to be state Rep. RJ May for child sexual abuse material.
Christian Soto, a registered nurse in Oklahoma City, was arrested last week on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, as well as possessing ammunition in violation of a restraining order, according to court records.
Investigators connected Soto to an account on messaging app Kik with the username “randomcouplehere,” according to court filings. That account received at least four videos showing child sexual abuse in April 2024 from an account investigators have linked to May, a West Columbia Republican.
May’s attorney, a federal public defender, did not respond to a request for comment. Kiefer Rose, a public defender representing Soto, declined to comment on the case.
May, who was also a founding member of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus in the South Carolina House, was arrested in June on charges of possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.
The investigation began when messaging app Kik alerted authorities in April 2024 that an account called “joebidennnn69” was sending explicit videos involving young children. Investigators tracked the account to May’s home internet and cellphone, prosecutors said during a June hearing.
The account, which existed for only five days in March and April of 2024, had 220 different videos and images depicting child sexual abuse saved to it, said Britton Lorenzen, a special investigator for the Department of Homeland Security’s division investigating internet crimes against children.
May remains at the Edgefield County Detention Center without bond.
He is scheduled to appear in federal court Aug. 20 for a pre-trial hearing. Jury selection for his trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 10, according to court filings.
May was suspended from the House without pay pending the case’s outcome, in accordance with a state law that requires officeholders indicted of a felony to be suspended.
House Majority Leader Davey Hiott filed a complaint June 13 with the House Ethics Committee to investigate May, a first step toward expelling him from the House. It was filed a day after May was charged, but the potentially unprecedented expulsion won’t happen anytime soon.
The full House is not scheduled to return to Columbia until January.
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