Ex-SC Rep. RJ May appeals child porn conviction, citing 'ineffective assistance'

John Monk, The State on Jan 30, 2026

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — Ex-South Carolina Rep. RJ May III is appealing his child porn conviction and 17.5-year prison sentence to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. May pleaded guilty in January.

May, 39, is claiming “ineffective assistance of counsel,” a claim that targets his two court-appointed public defender attorneys, Jenny Smith and Jeremy Thompson, according to court filings.

Under a Sept. 29 plea agreement, May is allowed to appeal his conviction and sentence in a few limited situations, one of which is an assertion of ineffective assistance of counsel.

May made his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel on Jan. 27 in a motion in the Fourth Circuit in which he stated his intent to appeal. Details to support his claim will presumably be filed at a later date.

Smith and Thompson had no immediate comment on May’s notice of his intent to appeal.

Federal Judge Cameron McGowan Currie pronounced sentence on May on Jan. 14 in a crowded courtroom at the federal courthouse in Columbia.

In giving May 17.5 years, the judge said the videos of child pornography she had viewed were “the worst” she’d ever seen in her 32-year career as a judge. They contained images of incest, rape, force, pain and humiliation, she said.

The average sentence in federal child porn cases is 12 1/2 years, she said. May was especially drawn to videos about toddlers being sexually abused by adults in the most degrading and vile ways, prosecutors said at the hearing.

During the hearing, Smith told Judge Currie that an eight-year sentence would be appropriate for May. In a letter to the judge, May had pleaded for a five-year prison sentence following which he would be released to his father’s farm in rural Virginia.

Judge Currie also sentenced May to be on a 20-year supervised release once he gets out of prison. While on release his contact with children and devices that can access the internet will be limited.

May had pleaded guilty to multiple counts of distributing child pornography on the internet.

May’s sentence was the final act in the life of a General Assembly lawmaker who began a rise to statewide prominence in 2020 when he was elected to a seat in Lexington County’s House District 88, which includes parts of West Columbia, Gaston, Red Bank and Lexington.

Once in the Legislature, May became the driving force behind the creation of the S.C. House Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line conservative Republicans who viewed compromise as a weakness.

But in August 2024, federal law enforcement officials from Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant on his house. Agents seized 35 electronic devices including cell phones, flash drives and computers from his West Columbia house.

In a news conference after May’s sentencing, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Lance Crick told reporters that May “betrayed a position of public trust. He was elected to make a difference in our community, elected to uphold the laws of our land. Instead, he represents the worst of us.”