GOP lawmaker accused of hoarding child pictures too dangerous for bail: judge

A Republican state representative in South Carolina accused of hoarding indecent pictures of children has been deemed too dangerous to receive bail, South Carolina Public Radio reporter Maayan Schechter reported on Thursday.

"The judge ruled that RJ May, now a suspended state representative, will remain in jail through his trial, citing flight risk and danger to his family and himself," wrote Schechter on X. "The judge said that the weight of evidence against May is significant."

May, a far-right lawmaker and founder of the South Carolina House Freedom Caucus, was arrested yesterday as part of a federal investigation.

Federal prosecutors and state police arrested him at his West Columbia home earlier in the week, and seized a laptop, a tablet, four cell phones, four hard drives, four SD cards, two DVD-Rs, and 19 flash drives.

Child exploitation charges have brought down other far-right activists in recent years.

In one of the most prominent cases, Stephen Thomas Farrea, a neo-Nazi who targeted drag queen events as a threat to children, was arrested by police in Portsmouth, Rhode Island on possession of child images last year.