A state legislator from South Carolina, who helped establish the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus there, was taken into custody this week on allegations of distributing child sexual abuse materials. He is facing 10 charges related to this case.

Robert John “RJ” May III made an appearance in federal court on Thursday, where he entered a plea of not guilty. Despite his plea, the court decided that he should remain in custody without the possibility of bond, as reported by the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

According to a federal grand jury indictment, May allegedly distributed child pornography using the usernames “joebidennnn69” and “Eric Rentling” on the Kik app in April 2024.

The Daily Gazette said that May was suspended from the state House of Representatives on Thursday pending the outcome of the case. State law requires the suspension in the event that a lawmaker is indicted on felony charges.

The US Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina said that “Kik flagged several videos from the username “joebidennnn69″ as containing child sexual abuse” and reported them to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators determined that the account was connected to the home IP address and specific mobile device belonging to May.

Investigators told the court the “joebidennnn69” account was created on March 30, 2024, and deleted five days later after sending more then 1,100 messages, most explicit in nature, the Daily Gazette said. They identified 220 different videos and images of child sexual abuse material that had been saved to the account.

Britton Lorenzen, a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security’s internet crimes against children division, testified that most of the videos involved very young children, including toddlers and infants, and that some depicted violent acts. At least one included bestiality.

Prosecutors presented phone records from the phone that handled the child porn to the grand jury showing May making calls to his wife or clients at his consulting firm or researching legislation, all at the same time the child porn was shared via Kik.

May’s attorney tried to argue that people don’t use their phones for multiple things at once, but the judge noted that she was texting a law clerk, scheduling hearings, and taking notes during the hearing, all on her cell phone.

“I don’t think it a big leap that one uses a phone for multiple reasons at the same time,” Hodges said.

Attorney Dayne Phillips also argued that “political enemies” could gotten onto his client’s internet during that time, although his home WiFi and phone were password protected.

Lorenzen also testified that investigators found nine videos showing May paying to have sex with young women, apparently recorded while he was on a trips to Colombia in 2023 and 2024. He does not face charges related to those videos, but the judge noted those videos as a reason to deny him bond. She also noted that his own young children — both under 10.

“I am concerned about the danger to the community, specifically to May’s two minor children, as well as other children, who are somebody’s children,” US Magistrate Judge Shiva Hodges said.

Members of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus, which suspended May’s membership last year, have now called on him to resign his House seat.

“These crimes are heinous and we expect that they will be fully investigated,” the Freedom Caucus statement read.

If convicted, May faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison with a minimum of five years, a fine of $250,000, and a term of at least five years of supervised release to follow any term of imprisonment, the US Attorney’s Office said.