From political consultant and SC House member, to convict. An RJ May timeline
Former Lexington County state Rep. RJ May, who was a driving force behind the hard-line conservative SC House Freedom Caucus was sentenced Wednesday on five counts of distributing child sexual abuse material.
Here is a timeline of his career that includes being a political consultant, campaign manager and state representative, and his fall from being a lawmaker.
2009: RJ May graduates from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor of arts in political science and criminal justice
2010: May works on Joe Wilson’s congressional campaign
June 2011: May starts Ivory Tusk consulting, a political consulting firm that works for Republican candidates.
2013: May earns a masters from Tel Aviv University in security and diplomacy studies
Spring and summer 2017: May works on the Ralph Norman campaign
Spring 2018: May serves as campaign manager for Catherine Templeton in her run for governor
November 2020: May is elected to represent House District 88 in Lexington County.
April 2022: May is the driving force behind the creation of the house Freedom Caucus. He is elected the group’s vice chairman and drives much of its strategy. The group is at odds with the House GOP caucus over its tactics and May’s consulting firm to campaigning against Republican House members.
November 2022: May is reelected to the House.
In 2023 and 2024: May makes at least three trips to Colombia to engage in commercial sex using the name “Eric Rentling,” prosecutors have said. He shots videos of some of the encounters, but investigators were unable to locate the women in them.
March 31 through April 4, 2024: May uses the Kik messaging app under the account name “joebidennnn69” to send 220 unique child pornography videos 479 times, over the course of 1,147 messages to more than 100 users, prosecutors said.
Aug. 5, 2024: May’s house is searched by investigators from the Department of Homeland Security. Investigators seized various electronics, including a Lenovo laptop, one Amazon tablet, four cell phones, four hard drives, four SD cards, two DVD-Rs and 19 thumb drives.
November 2024: May is reelected to a third term, despite unconfirmed rumors on the investigation surrounding him. His name appeared by itself on the ballot, but more than 1,000 write-in votes came in against him.
December 2024: May attends the House reorganization session. He keeps mostly to himself. “I’m just looking forward to representing the people of District 88 and doing the job I was elected to do,” May repeatedly told reporters. He had only briefly communicated one other time with a reporter between the search of his house and his reelection.
December 2024: Freedom Caucus confirms May is suspended from the group.
Jan. 14 through May 8, 2025: May regularly attends session, but does not speak on the House floor. He, however, votes along with the Freedom Caucus, which he helped create despite being suspended from the group.
June 10, 2025: May is indicted on 10 counts of distributing child sexual abuse material. After the indictment is unsealed and May is arrested, he is immediately suspended as a member of the House of Representatives. A judge denies May a bond, keeping him in jail while his case is pending.
July 1, 2025: House Ethics Committee opens investigation into May for conduct unbecoming a member.
August 2025: May resigns as a House member.
Sept. 30, 2025: May pleads guilty to five counts of distributing child sexual abuse material.
Oct. 15, 2025: House Ethics probe finds May did not file his state income taxes in 2022, 2023 and 2024. He is charged about a month later by the South Carolina Department of Revenue.
Jan. 14, 2026: May is sentenced to 17.5 years in prison
