Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #113 - Is Accused Pedophile RJ May Just an Idiot or Is He Also Up to Something?

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

Accused pedophile and former SC lawmaker RJ May is facing ten federal charges of distributing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) — but instead of mounting a serious defense, his lawyer leaned on arguments involving Wi-Fi passwords, multitasking excuses, and even LEGOLAND trips. Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell dig into May’s detention hearing, exposing the bizarre legal tricks, the failure of DSS to protect children, and the lingering questions about how deep South Carolina’s “Good Ole Boy” network goes.  The team also continues its investigation into (48:01) Weldon Boyd and the suspicious handling of the Scott Spivey case by Horry County Police.  A video of Weldon Boyd's police interview not only shows the lead investigator on the case treating it like it’s a foregone conclusion that Weldon and Bradley killed Scott in self-defense, it also shows him allowing both shooters to listen to Weldon’s 911 call to get their stories straight before the interview... Let’s dive in! 🥽🦈 Episode References “Rep. Matt Gaetz hires defense lawyer Marc Mukasey” - CNBC, April 9, 2021 📰 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) 🌐 Lawsuit: DSS fails to provide for S.C. children's basic needs 📰 Stay Tuned, Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight...☀️ Learn more about Premium Membership at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lunashark.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get bonus episodes like our Premium Dives, Corruption Watchlist, Girl Talk, and Soundbites that help you Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight Here's a link to some of our favorite things: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/4cJ0eVn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ *** ALERT: If you ever notice audio errors in the pod, email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and we'll send fun merch to the first listener that finds something that needs to be adjusted! *** For current & accurate updates: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lunashark.supercast.com⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram.com/mandy_matney⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   |   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram.com/elizfarrell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bsky.app/profile/mandy-matney.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bsky.app/profile/elizfarrell.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TrueSunlight.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/TrueSunlightPodcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram.com/TrueSunlightPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/@LunaSharkMedia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tiktok.com/@lunasharkmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I don't know exactly what accused pedophile and former South Carolina lawmaker R.J. May is really up to. But after taking a closer look at his case file and his communications from jail, we are wondering if this man has a plan B involving others in power. My name is Mandy Matney. This is True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and corruption, previously known as the Murdoch Murders podcast. True Sunlight is a Luna Shark production written with journalist Liz Farrell. So, for the last time in a while, at least for a few weeks, we are recording this show from our home in South Carolina. Because y'all, we have the busiest season of our entire lives ahead of it.

us. I am overwhelmed, excited, and mostly proud to share some super exciting news. Luna Shark was picked to produce the official companion podcast of the Murdoch Hulu series, and that is a big deal. Yeah, y'all, little old Luna Shark will be producing a podcast for Universal Studios Group Audio and Hulu slash Disney. What? What? a long and strange road it's been, and we wouldn't be here without y'all, the amazing listeners who have stuck with us through Murdoch, Miller, Boyd, and all of the chaos in between. So what exactly does this companion podcast mean? Well, we will be interviewing some big names from the series, schedules permitting.

Remember, the series has a stacked cast, including Britney Snow, Patricia Arquette, Jason Clark and Jim O'Hare. In the podcast, we will be diving back into all things Murdoch as they relate to the show. Each episode of the Hulu Show will have a companion podcast with it, made by your favorite pesky podcasters. Liz David and I are executive producing all eight episodes that will dive into the characters, the events, the themes, and even the Easter eggs. The Murdoch saga was a true crime story like no other. So trust me when I say this series and companion podcast will be equally jaw-dropping. We are thrilled to be working with our amazing Luna Shark team,

but also welcoming back our friend and talented director of photography, Eric Allen Dowme, plus others who we will soon introduce. David's hope is that this audio podcast will be another number one global hit. And that will be three for us, for whoever's counting. And honestly, I think we can do it, y'all. We will be sticking to our mission as always by giving a voice to victims, exposing the truth and getting the story straight. And we can't wait to tell you more about all of this.

And don't worry, our team will stay on top of the cases that we are covering while we work on this show. We will be traveling. We will be working like crazy. And to be honest, I cried a little today, thinking about how busy we are going to be, but it was a good cry, a necessary cry, releasing all of the stress and worry that I have endured with all things Murdoch and finally starting to embrace our success in the best way. Any day now, y'all will hear some big news about the Hulu show. In the meantime, if y'all could do me a favor and keep up the pressure about the cases that we are

covering on social media, especially in the next few weeks when I might not have as much time to constantly call out Alan Wilson like I have been recently. I would appreciate Annie and all back up there. And also, we absolutely love hearing your comments about our show. I was a little low today, and I could use any boost that the universe and y'all could give us. I appreciate every single one of you, and I am excited for this new era. Also, have to say this, congrats to Taylor and Travis. And finally, I also have to say, our hearts are with everyone who has been affected by the shooting in Minnesota. There aren't a lot of words to say there, except for the fact that we should never accept mass shootings as the normal in our country.

Now, let's get down to business. As promised last week, we want to start off today's episode by sharing the next part of our look into the RJ May case, the horrible, terrible, disgusting, and despicable child sexual abuse materials case involving the man who helped create South Carolina's ultra-right-wing Christian conservative legislative group, the South Carolina Freedom Caucus. The group that freely accuses progressive and even conservative public educators of being pedophiles and of grooming children simply because these educators don't have the same arbitrary hate in their hearts as old RJ and its cohort of creeps do for books written by and about minorities, members of the LGBTQI plus community and their allies, true stories about history, learning other points of view, and expanding students' knowledge base. The finally former South Carolina House of Representatives legislator Robert John May the 3, who didn't resign until a few weeks ago, has been charged with 10,000.

10 federal counts of distributing child sexual abuse images, sharing more than 220 videos with around 500 other alleged pedophiles over a five-day period in March and April of 2024, using a social media messaging app called Kick and the name Joe Biden 69. Because, well, RJ May is an alleged pedophile, but he is not an alleged genius. In addition to the 10 charges RJ faces, which were four distributing videos that included adults raping and forcing babies, toddlers, and children under the age of 10 into sexual acts. He had naked photos on his phone of a 6-year-old family member who lived with him. Though RJ does not face any charges for directly sexually abusing a child, this child began slapping himself when he was asked about the photos on RJ's phone, and then he put a piece of scotch tape over his mouth. during his forensic interview with law enforcement.

He told the interviewer that he was not supposed to talk about the pictures. And this is heartbreaking in every way. So that's RJ May. He made his entire political personality about family values, accusing anyone who believes in inclusion as being child predators. And if he has found guilty, I hope it truly resonates with people far and wide that the men in power who scream the loudest about being Christian

and wanting to protect children are sometimes, telling on themselves. Anyway, RJ pleaded not guilty, and he's currently being held without bond at a county jail in South Carolina, and he's being represented by two federal public defenders. That's right. Mr. Ultra Right Wing Christian Conservative Big Mouth is using a taxpayer-funded service, a service that one might even go so far as to characterize as a socialist institution, something RJ and his friends in the Freedom Dorcas say they abhor. I'm sure he thinks he's owed this, though, So last week, we began sharing bits and pieces from the 105-page transcript of RJ's June 12th detention hearing in federal court. One thing we didn't talk too much about, though, is why there was a detention hearing that day in the first place.

And it's kind of important when you consider RJ's outlook on his situation. Again, RJ says he is not guilty and he said that he believes he is being set up by political enemies. He claims his wife had posted a photo of herself on Facebook that showed, the family's Wi-Fi password on a board in the background and that someone saw that and decided to use it to their advantage. He claims he couldn't have been sending videos showing adults raping and sexually assaulting babies and young children because his digital footprint also shows him sending work-related messages and taking work-related phone calls at the same time. And he claims that because there was no evidence of CSAM found on any of his devices that this couldn't be him. Homeland Security Investigations agent

Britain Baker-Lorenson testified on June 12th that it was actually very common for CSAM to be stored in an access from the cloud or third-party like kick. During RJ's detention hearing, his attorney, Dane Phillips, asked Agent Lorenzen about the Facebook photo. Here's how that went. Again, Federal Court doesn't allow media to record proceedings, so we're going to use AI to recreate that moment. Okay. And as far as during the course of your investigation, have you been provided anything from the government related to a picture that his wife had posted on Facebook that had their Wi-Fi password in the background on a chalkboard? We never found that on her Facebook page, but we did find a similar picture on her phone. Okay, that was potentially posted on social media.

Have you become aware of that during the course of your investigation? We have become aware of that. We did not find a post from Facebook, or we did find a very similar picture of the description. And that dates back to 2023, as well as March of 2024 right before this? Correct. All right. And again, during the course of your investigation, would it be fair to say that you have come across that there are a significant amount of people who do not like Mr. May? There is a significant amount of people that don't like me either, Mr. Phillips.

So, I don't know. I don't follow social media or really politics around South Carolina, so... So, there wasn't any investigation in... in terms of that part? No. As far as what you received on his phone, did you receive anything else? Any specifics about any political enemies related to that

that came up during the course of your investigation? No, only what I have read in the newspaper here and there. And then, Agent Lorenzen held up a sign that said, Nice try, Dope Dane. Well, obviously not, but the point still stands. We weren't in the courtroom, and like we said, there's no footage from the hearing, but you could practically hear Dane's eyes keep darting over to the judge's face

to see if she was picking up what he was putting down. Even though the thing that he was putting down was not what the judge was looking for at that particular hearing, which is probably why he didn't fully commit to the bit. That and having no evidence to back up anything that he was saying at all. Stick a pin in that, and don't worry. Dopey Dane's arguments somehow get worse. The second major argument Dane Phillips tried to make was that R.J. May would not have been able to engage in the prolific trading of videos, showing adults raping and forcing babies and small children

into sexual acts while also doing his work. And that is an interesting argument because we too believe that R.J. May seems like the kind of guy who could not chew bubble gum while sitting, or hold space in his head for two thoughts that seem divergent, but are actually kindred ideas. But the argument that RJ May couldn't send these creepy videos while also responding to calls and emails in his efforts to turn South Carolina backwards 75 years, well, that is a bad one. That's like saying the shark and jaws couldn't swim and kill vacationers at the same time. If RJ is guilty of this, then his work was just a cover. Anyway, here is the line of questioning Dane Phillips had for Agent Lorenzen. And remember, Agent Lorenzen

is the female and Dane Phillips is the male. So everything is related to essentially the kick app in this case? Yes. And you referenced that the kick app had been used 1,100 times within this four to five day window? Correct. Through your investigation, did you check to see whether during any of those 1100 times if there is any inconsistencies with his text messages, or location or whereabouts, as far as being inconsistent with somebody that is able to post one of those one, 1,100 times for him doing some other activity at that exact time? We did not come across any inconsistencies such as that. But have you looked for them? In other words, for every 1,100 time occurrence through that

four to five day period, have you tried to match up because you made, certainly, reference to that that there is other Facebook messages, there is other text messages going on. Have you went through to see whether there is any inconsistencies that he is doing any other? Activity in a location at the time that is inconsistent with being able to post on the Kick app at that time. Not. We have not conducted a search of all 11. I believe 1,100 and 44 times he accessed the account. No, we have not been able to do that yet. I mean, good point. Good point. It makes sense that someone. accused of doing this, would be hoping to God there was an inconsistency and when he is alleged

to have accessed the account, and when he was doing something else that would render him completely unable to access the account, which would be what exactly? What activity beyond death being in a coma or incarceration, maybe, would prevent an alleged pedophile from accessing his secret alleged pedophile stash? Now, I know you want to say, well, breaking both arms and being and Cass would do that, but I promise you. If that happened to an alleged pedophile, that alleged pedophile would learn how to hold an apple pen in his mouth. Anyway, stick a pin in that argument, because again, it wasn't what the judge was looking for at this detention hearing. The last big argument Dane Phillips made for RJ May was that agents did not find CSAM on his phone or any of his

digital devices. Again, two of RJ May's former clients, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, and the Lexington County Sheriff. Both had this tip about the IP address being attached to RJ May's home two months before his home was actually raided. I'm not saying that they tipped off RJ, but Columbia, South Carolina is one good old boy faucet that leaks all day and all night long. It's not inconceivable that RJ knew what was coming his way.

I'm not accusing him of scrubbing his devices or discarding devices. I'm just saying it's a possibility that needs to be acknowledged in good old boy, Columbia. Here's Dane Phillips and Agent Lawrenceon again in AI form. So, out of the devices seized, there was no CSAM material found? Correct. Now, was there any artifacts related to CSAM material found on any device? No, just in the KIC account. Okay, so out of all the devices seized, could you run through the list of devices that you seized from the home? I do not have that in front of me, but there were various cell phones hard. Drives and different SD cards and different other stored media devices.

On every single device that was seized, there is no CSAM material and there is no artifacts of CSAM material? Correct. Okay. So everything is related to essentially the kick app in this case? Yes. All right. So those are the three main arguments that RJ May had at his detention hearing the day after

he was arrested, that he was possibly set up because people hate him. him because one of those 1,144 times that he accessed the KIC account over those five days happened while he was doing something else, which is narrowed down to only two solid circumstances where that would apply, being dead or in a coma. And three, because there was no child sex abuse material found on his devices that were seized two months after two former clients of his learned that he was the suspect. Those arguments were obviously not good, but it is surprising just how bad this strategy was. More on that after a quick break, and we'll be right back.

Let's talk about what this hearing was. We touched on this last week. RJMA's charges carry with them a presumption that detention is necessary, that these types of crimes are generally committed by people who are presumed to be a flight risk or a danger to the community if they're let on unbond while awaiting trial. You'll remember with ELEC Murdoch, the state had to prove that Ehrlich needed to be behind bars while awaiting trial. The state had to show the court that Ehrlich would be a danger to himself because of his self-proclaimed drug addiction and depression over Maggie's and Paul's, murder, or that he was a potential flight risk because of his access to and regular use of private jets, the mounting financial crimes that were being discovered at the time, the potential double murder charge that was awaiting him at that time, as well as his wealth and his

access to money, which he kept denying was the thing. And you'll remember how much Ellick's attorneys Dick Harpoolian and Jim Griffin complained about how unusual and unfair it was for ELEC to be held without bond, and how much drama they put everyone through only for them to lose, lose, and lose again. It works the opposite with presumption of detention charges. The government doesn't have to prove anything. The burden of proof is on the defense, meaning RJ's attorney was tasked with convincing the court that this presumption should not apply to RJ.

He was supposed to present evidence supporting this rebuttal to the presumption, such as witnesses who could testify that RJ has strong ties to his community, church and family, and therefore would not flee, that he has solid employment and needs to work, that there are reasons for him to come back to court and face these charges. The government presented its case that, hey, this is a guy who needs to be behind bars based on the evidence we have here. And the defense gets to ask questions about that evidence in an effort to show that RJ is not a danger or a flight risk. I'm not sure Dane Phillips' arguments met that standard, though. Maybe someone else did this because RJ sucks. Maybe RJ can't multitask. And maybe the fact that his phone and tablet seemed to firmly

connect him to the Joe Biden 69 account on kick, where all the CSAM was isn't as important as the fact that his devices, which were seized two months after his two powerful former clients, good old boys, knew about the accusations, were clear of that material. Also, I lied. I am sure that Dane's arguments didn't meet that standard because he lost bigly. So, let's rewind. That was all background. So you all would be better equipped to judge what I'm about to share with you. Now, if you were arrested for a heinous crime, it doesn't even have to be this one because yuck. And you didn't commit that heinous crime. You would likely fight tooth and nail in every possible legal way you could to clear your name. even if you were impecunious, i.e. penniless, as Dick Harpoolian, the several hundred

dollar an hour attorney hired by Alec Murdoch claimed Alec Murdoch to be to the laughter of millions because Dick used that word and did it with a straight, sleepy face. At the very least, you, the innocent person who has been framed, would likely take every opportunity the court and the law offered you to help clear your name. Now, make yourself a good old boy, a white man with connections to power and access to money. Make yourself part of an inner group of legislators who call themselves a caucus, a faction, a group of like-minded individuals willing to take up the fight for freedom together. Freedom, y'all.

Put yourself in both of those frames of mind. You're innocent and you're a good old boy. Okay. Now let's talk about how this hearing started because what is RJ up to you guys? First, Dane Phillips told the court that he was only there making a special appearance on behalf of RJ. Judge Shiva v. Hodges was like, great. How long do you need to know whether you'll be hired as general counsel? And Dean told her he needed a week. One week, seven days. The judge then informed RJ that he had a right to counsel and that she would schedule a status of counsel hearing for two weeks out to give RJ time to make a decision about counsel. She asked RJ if he wanted her to read the indictment of the 10 charges to him. He said no and confirmed that he understood the charges against him.

And then she entered his plea, if not guilty, into the record. Now, with presumption of detention charges, like we said, the defense has a right to ask for a hearing to argue against detention. And they have the right to prepare for that hearing. At the June 12th detention hearing, assistant U.S. attorney Jonathan Matthews told the court this. The government moves for detention. I don't know if Mr. Phillips intends to ask for that hearing today. I will note that pretrial services had a very limited opportunity to meet.

meet with Mr. May and they have not made a recommendation. Having said that, the government is prepared to proceed. We have provided a pretrial brief or a brief in support of detention to your honor. We emailed approximately an hour ago and the government is ready to proceed today if Mr. May so chooses or we can reschedule based on your honor's preference. In other words, the government was like, so the pretrial service people haven't had time to assess what kind of risk R.J. is. And I'm assuming that the defense would want that. And also, we just gave you our 22-page pretrial brief an hour ago, which probably isn't at all fair. I don't know. We're ready to go, but like, we can totally do this another time. Here they were giving R.J. May a chance to fight,

and he didn't take it. Here is what Judge Hodges said to R.J. May. Again, this is an AI rendition. Mr. May, the government has moved for your detention pending the resolution of the charges against you. Before that can happen, you are entitled to a detention hearing, at which time the court decides whether you are a risk of flight or danger to the community, or whether there are bond conditions that can guard against those risks. You have the right to have your detention hearing once, so you want to make sure you are in the best position to move forward with it as possible. The government has the right to ask for up to three days to prepare for the hearing. You have a right to ask for up to five days to prepare for the hearing. Alternatively,

you can waive your right to have your detention hearing scheduled with leave to come back and ask for it to be scheduled at a later time. You get one bite at the detention apple, so you want to make sure you're in the best position to move forward with it as possible. If you were to elect to have your detention hearing now, and if I were to rule against you, you could not come back down the road and say, well, there are these other witnesses of this other information that I wish to have presented, and I would like to come back to the court. I will rule once, and then you are sort of stuck with the ruling. So, you can elect to have your detention hearing now or later, and meaning scheduled for later,

or waived to come back and ask for it to be scheduled later. Mr. Phillips, have y'all had an opportunity to review the detention hearing rights and would like another opportunity to speak with Mr. May? Could I have one more opportunity, Your Honor? Sure. Your Honor, he is ready. Ready to proceed with a detention hearing today? Yes, Your Honor.

And this is where it gets good. Let me make sure we are all on the same page, all right? y'all understand i believe this is a there is a presumption that arises under title 18 united states code section 3142 e3 because it is an offense involving a minor victim under the relevant statute for distribution of child pornography is that correct mr is that correct with the government yes your honor it is a presumption case okay do you agree with that mr phillips as far as the statute with presumption yes your honor we do believe that we do believe that we can meet the burden and that there are conditions that can reasonably assure his appearance in court.

The judge was like, hold up. Maybe RJ May and his lawyer don't understand what they're saying yes to here. And maybe they don't get that the burden is on them. Because why wouldn't they take five days to prepare? Why wouldn't they want witness testimony? Some of the defendants elect to stay in jail from the moment they're arrested, in hopes that it will offset whatever sentence that they're likely going to get, meaning they assume that they're going to be sentenced for the crimes that they're accused of committing.

Is that what R.J. is doing here? Or is something else going on? Does he think that someone's coming his way to rescue him? Is he possibly counting on President Trump to give him a pardon? Or is he just broke and despondent and has no friends willing to start a legal fund? for him. In text messages, we obtained through a FOIA request to the Edgefield County Detention Center where RJ May is being held until at least his October trial, RJ seems to be working on a plan to get out of jail. He also bragged that his Newport News Virginia upbringing was earning him some respect among the inmates. He seemed really impressed with himself. Here's David with a text from RJ to a friend on June 18th,

six days after his detention hearing. Thank you again for everything and helping. I'll try not to text too much. Just let me know if you get Bill or Amy on the line and what I should say. I should have a skeleton of a suppression motion and motion to revoke detention by next week. revoked detention. Didn't Judge Hodges tell you that you only get one bite of the apple on that?

Didn't she stop proceedings to make sure that Dane Phillips consulted with you, to make sure that you understood what you were giving up by having the hearing the day after your arrest? I should note that R.J. May is not an attorney. Amy is Amy Zerumcheck, cousin Eddie's attorney. In the reference to Bill is believed to be Bill Nettles, Chief of the Federal Public Defender's Office, which, what? Ugh, stick a pin in that one. We'll talk about that in another episode.

The point is, according to jail text, R.J. May wanted his detention revoked. And four days after that text, he apparently had a motion drafted to that effect. Needless to say, it never got filed. Back to the detention hearing. In his closing arguments, Dane Phillips made his last ditch effort. after calling no witnesses to keep RJ May from going to jail until trial.

I'll have David read a bullet point list of reasons why Dane thought RJ had met his burden in arguing against detention. He can be monitored. House arrest him. Restrict his travel, even in West Columbia. Take his weapons from him. It's been ten months since his house was raided and he didn't try. to run. Instead, he retained me, Dane. And he retained Mark Mukasey, an attorney from New York City to help him through the investigation phase. Scur! Did Dean Phillips just say Mark Mukasey from New York City, as in Mark Mukasey, the protege of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani? Mark Mukasey, the guy former representative Matt Gates, hired when he was under federal investigation for child sex trafficking and statutory rape. Mark Mukasey, as in one of President Donald Trump's attorneys, who has also represented Eric Trump and the Trump organization.

RJ May retained that guy, a Trump-adjacent attorney, and then tanked his one attempt at a detention hearing, but doesn't want to be in jail and can't afford to. to hire a defense attorney, so he's going to use the public defender's office. We were kidding before when we were talking about RJ counting on a pardon, but now I'm not so sure. Okay, keep going, David. His successful business and political career are tanking because of this. When he was being investigated, he didn't miss a single day of General Assembly. The media is following the case closely. He can't escape the media.

RJ had multiple meetings and discussions with the government during the investigation, and he's still here. The government made it clear in October 24 that an indictment was coming and RJ didn't run. We told the government he would voluntarily surrender, but they didn't let RJ do that. For some reason, there is no, quote, competent evidence to show. that he'd run. Oh, and you can tell him not to go online. He doesn't have to use the internet. P.S., his wife is here. Then, Dane Phillips told the court that as far as the family member who lives in the home with R.J., the young child whose naked photos were found on R.J.'s According to court documents, he tried to hint at some weird drama. He said, quote,

I believe an attorney represents them separately that had its own issues with Agent Lorenzen. He said, we are not going into that today. But what we know, even from a state-level reference, DSS, that there was no emergency protective custody issue here. He has been taking the child family member to school. They have been going on trips to Legoland. Yes, guys, Legoland. He said Legoland.

multiple trips to Legoland. Dane's point obviously is that if RJ May was seen as a threat to this child and the adults and the powers that be around him, they would have put a stop to it. But how was he not seen as a threat? Some of our friends with children have a parenting policy that's basically, everyone is a sex offender until proven otherwise. Like, how about y'all postpone the Legoland trips until the investigation is over. Of all the people to get the benefit of the doubt, it should not be the man who is facing

a child sex abuse material indictment. Okay. So the last thing that we need to talk about before we move on to the Scott Spivey case is what the judge said to Dane Phillips about what will forever be known as the Legoland loss. Because why would Dane Phillips think a winning argument to a judge? A judge who's a woman would be like, It's okay, that little kid whose naked photos were on RJ's phone. The kid who in his forensic interview was slapping himself on the face and taped his mouth shut because he said he wasn't supposed to talk about the pictures? That kid?

Don't worry, RJ hangs with him all the time and goes with him to other places where there are tons of other children. This is totally evidence that you should just let RJ may go home until his child's sex abuse materials trial. He closed his arguments by reiterating that he thinks that it's wrong that the government was able to charge RJ when RJ's devices didn't have child sex abuse material on them. And he said that he disagreed with Agent Lorenzen that it would be very common for pedophiles to store their illegal videos in the cloud or on an app such as Kik. This is when Judge Hodges interrupted him. Again, these are AI voices. The female voice is the judge, and the male voice is defense attorney Dane Phillips. We've edited four-length.

So are you suggesting because the presumption is that there is no condition or combination of conditions due to the nature of the offense is charged? And I haven't heard any presentation of evidence from the defendant. You choose not to provide a witness is the argument that this four or five. day period was an anomaly in Mr. May's life, or it was that somebody took control over his IP address or front. What is the theory of the case here? Yes, our position is that it was not Mr. May that had access to the account. During that time, if that account is even directly, again, I don't, have all the evidence to understand at this point to fully be able to address every specific issue that we would like to be able to do. In my opinion, from a logistical standpoint, I don't know how

there can be in one breath communicating with individuals but also uploading C-SAM and as the government tried to present gratifying himself all three things happen simultaneously as far as the location the cell site location data we requested they said the government's issue was they weren't able to read that document certainly we will go through that conduct our own investigation but the defense theory is certainly that he did not distribute child pornography and the other issue that were certainly presented shows that there is, a combination of conditions that would reasonably assure his appearance. Well, we don't get there.

Understood. Until you overcome the presumption. You have presented no evidence. I understand. You have presented no defense witness. So you don't get to talk to me about conditions until you have overcome the presumption, and then rebut the presumption,

and then we get to talk about conditions. And you kind of have to, you have to put the horse before the cart, right? Understood, Your Honor. So I guess going specifically again to that, I understand that with the rebuttable presumption to be as specific, since, again, I don't have a direct witness as to the defense other than that he was not the one who had access at that time or used that username or created those names. And again, it is one of those things where trying to disprove that someone hacked his account or that it was some type of political. Enemy is very difficult to produce a witness without have all the discovery for us to be able to conduct our own independent. You elected to have this detention hearing today. Exactly. It's so weird, right? After Dane Phillips cross-examined Agent Lorenzen and after the government questioned her under redirect, the government rested its case.

And Judge Hodges asked Dane Phillips if there were any witnesses on behalf of the defendant. Your Honor, may I have one moment. moment to speak with his wife? Sure. Mr. Phillips? Your honor. At this time, we have no further witnesses. No witnesses, Your Honor. Uh, his wife was there? You mean R.J. May's wife, Beth Slosson, who was in the courtroom and chose not to speak on R.J.'s behalf. Chose not to fight to keep him from behind bars. That says a whole lot, right? We have a lot of questions about Beth Slosson. How much she knew and how long she knew it?

Why was their house in her name? How come she was listed as a defendant in a 2021 lawsuit against RJ's company for bad faith? And what exactly did she know about the child's forensic interview where the child was asked about naked pictures on RJ's phone and reacted by covering his mouth with tape? Did she also find that out in court that day? Is that why she was there but chose not to speak for RJ?

Or did she know about this months ago? And did she allow RJ to continue living with that child after that child showed concerning behavior in the forensic interview? I hope we learn more about this. I hope that Beth Sloss and May's decision to not speak in court is a sign of what is to come for RJ. The people who loved him will be leaving him in the day. dust. Mostly, I hope that Beth, or someone, anyone, is fighting to protect those children.

I don't understand for the life of me how officials allowed RJ May to live with two children, one who displayed concerning behavior in a forensic interview for months before he was arrested. Children often get lost in crimes like this, unfortunately, because there aren't enough people fighting for children, because frankly, fighting for children is not a moneymaker. And since RJ May's own attorney mentioned the South Carolina Department of Social Services, which, by the way, might be the most dysfunctional government agency in the dysfunctional state of South Carolina, I am also concerned about what happened after this forensic interview. Did DHS ever open an investigation into RJ May about his children?

Was there ever a point before his arrest when DSS was alerted by the feds about the evidence stacked up against him? Specifically the evidence allegedly showing RJ's interests in videos of parents sexually abusing their children combined with what they learned in the forensic interview, combined with the fact that R.J. May allegedly had pictures of a naked child who lived with him on his phone. Seems to me like the Department of Social Services failed here, because at the very least, there should have been an emergency protective custody hearing to determine if those kids were safe in that home. SEDSS is known for being underfunded, mismanaged, and chronically chaotic. We aren't blaming the individual social workers at DSS,

but we are blaming those in charge, to be clear. Did SEDSS look the other way here because a state representative who happens to make decisions about their budget was involved? Or is DSS really that bad? Is the bar there really that low? We are going to be looking more into this because it's setting alarm bells off.

If you have any information on how DSS works and how we can FOIA for this case and find out more, please email us at info at lunasharkmedia.com. We'll be back after a short break. Array! The Conjuring! Last Rites. Only in theater, September 5th. So one thing we haven't talked too much about is the accusation that R.J. May allegedly took three or four trips.

to Bogota and Medellin in Colombia in 2023 and 2024 to allegedly pay girls to have sex with him that was also videoed at least nine times. The government contends he used the alias, Eric Rintling, to arrange these transactions. It's not clear whether the girls in question were underage, though. And R.J. doesn't face any charges related to those trips. But the government brought them to the judge's attention

so that she could consider that R.J. appears to have international connections and allegedly has a history of using an alias. As part of his closing arguments, Dane Phillips told the judge that there's no real evidence that ties RJ to Eric Rutling and Joe Biden 69 accounts. Even though both usernames were found in RJ's phone's internal user dictionary, the one that stores words and spellings we commonly use as individuals that aren't in standard dictionaries. Here's the judge's response to that. There's evidence. There's that an individual under the name, under the alias of Eric Rentling, engaged in chats and discussions,

travel, and engaged with sex workers in Colombia, over the period of several three to four times over last summer. That corresponds, I believe, to the time that Mr. May was out of the country. Are you suggesting that that is just a coincidence, and that is not his alias either? Specifically, I just want to, I apologize, Your Honor. I just want to be as specific as possible in my receipts. response as far as Eric Rentley. I want to make sure. Rentling.

As far as providing that, as far as the travel to Columbia specifically, out of the county travel. Out of the country travel to follow up on the email communications with the nine ladies or young women that he that are associated with the account connected to his phone and laptop. The fact that the judge had to correct Dane Phillips on R.J. May's alleged fake last name has me dead. Dane Phillips then argued that the allegation of R.J. May, going to Bogotok and Medellin, Colombia, had nothing to do with the child sex abuse material charges. In legal terms, he was arguing that it wasn't a nexus to the charges, a nexus being the

link between a defendant and the crime being alleged. Let's just say, Judge Hodges disagreed with Dane about that one. The nexus is, whoa, I have no idea that there is child sexual abuse material on my phone, and I don't know how it got there. But meanwhile, back at the ranch, there is this other account, email address, PayPal, Telegram, Mega, Gmail, Facebook, connected to this individual who the government alleges is your client using the alias Eric Rentling, who coincidentally is traveling for sex in another country at the same time that your client happens to be in that country. The nexus is, I have no idea what is going on, but there is some information evidence related to the same type of prurient sexual interest that frankly corroborates more closely the information obtained from the kick account over this four to five day period than the denials of, I don't know how it got there, or it is not on my phone, or it is not on my devices. I'm wondering if you have anything to offer to me in order to argue that the rebuttable presumption does not. apply. Dean Phillips told the judge that their position was that there was no hard evidence that the young women on Eric Rentlings, i.e. RJ May's, videos were under the age of 18, so they don't

believe that particular bit of evidence supports any notion that RJ is also Joe Biden 69. We have so much more to share with the RJ May case. For now, we want to leave you with the highlights from Judge Hodges ruling. At the point we're picking up, she had been speaking for a while. She was outlining all the findings of Agent Lorenzen. The weight of the evidence against Mr. May is significant. It is very strong. The defendant appears to have used the alias Eric Rentling to register mega, Gmail, Facebook, and PayPal accounts, along with travel arrangements in Eric Rentling's name. Coincidentally, or maybe not, Mr. May traveled to Bogota and Medellin in Colombia over the course of some three or four times, and these resulted in some nine

separate videos of what is believed to be Mr. May engaging in prostitution with the young ladies whose anatomy appear to reflect their age of under 18. Mr. Phillips, would you like to hear my ruling or is your conversation more important? It is not more important, Your Honor. Judge Hodges continued to outline the findings of the investigation and then addressed RJ May's claim that he couldn't have done this because, you know, multitasking. I will note, that simultaneous use of applications on a phone is not surprising, and I don't find it unusual that one would be able to simultaneously do one activity as another. As we have been sitting here listening to testimony,

I have been taking notes, I have been rescheduling hearings, I have been communicating with my law clerk, but I don't think that is a big leap to think that one uses a phone for multiple purposes at the same time. I don't know about you, but I get chills when a woman judge in South Carolina politely tells a good old boy's attorney that he is ridiculous. So our main takeaway of what went down during R.J. May's detention hearing is that it's odd. So odd. We are so used to good old boys pulling out all of the stops not to be jailed. It's just about them being big fish out of water, among other inmates.

And we get it. It's really hard to prep for your case when you're incarcerated, which will talk more about RJ's odd attempts at getting counsel and what led to his decision to use public defenders. We're just not sure what to make of things with him right now. And we are really, really suspicious about the lack of child sex abuse material on RJ's devices and his fixation on that.

The Homeland Security investigators said that it's very common for CSAM not to be stored on individuals' phones and laptops. In fact, one of RJ May's alleged pedophile pen pals was recently arrested in Oklahoma City for allegedly trading CSAM with RJ. According to reports, investigators found CSAM on a thumb drive in his home. With RJ, they apparently found nothing. Which really makes me ask the question, did somebody tip? R.J. May off? Is that why there was no CSAM found on his devices? Because there's a weird equation here and it's this. R.J. May put no effort into getting out of jail. Plus, he apparently hired a highly Trump-connected attorney during the investigation phase. Plus,

he's using a public defender now. Is he expecting to get out of this? And is he just sitting back using taxpayer money to defend himself? Because maybe he sees no need to invest in an outcome that's already expected to happen. Or is he truly a good old boy on his own here? Okay, let's get back to where we left off with the Scott Spivey Killing slash Ori County Police Department corruption case. And that's Weldon Boyd's interview with police, the night he and his friend Bradley Williams shot and killed.

Scott after following him for the majority of 10 miles. In episode 111, we told you how both Weldon and Bradley were brought to the North Precinct offices to be quote unquote questioned by investigator Alan Jones, one of the right people that Weldon's bestie, the now former deputy chief Brandon Strickland, told Weldon he was sending his way that night. And I put questioned in quotation marks because, like we told you a few episodes ago, this seemed like it was all for show. From the get go, Alan was basically like, listen, I've heard everything and this is just a formality. And worse, he allowed both Weldon and Bradley to listen to their 911 recording before answering questions. As Weldon and Bradley waited for Alan Jones to retrieve Weldon's call to 911,

Weldon rocked in his office share side to side as if his dad had brought him to take your son to work day, and Bradley sat leaned forward in his seat, staring intently at an empty water bottle that he was holding with both hands. One of the officers asked Bradley if he would like more water, and Bradley declined. At this point, Weldon's and allegedly Bradley's attorney, Ken Moss, was mostly off camera, but you could see his cross legs and his bouncing foot and the Hey Dude's shoes he was wearing, which I did not see that fashion choice coming. Here's how it sounded in the room with prosecutors George DeBusk and Dylan Bagnall while they waited. And that's Weldon, who says that's what we're talking about. That's a good stuff. I've got a lot of fun in tells me.

They love Charleston. I guess that's a good one. That's good one. You know, just a bunch of boys watching football while Scott Spivey's body was sitting in a truck in the heat instead of the morgue before they bothered to take his blood alcohol level. When Detective Alan Jones finally came back with the 911 call recording, he had Bradley Williams leave the room so that he could interview Weldon first. On camera, you can see Bradley leave the room and you can hear someone tell him. He can go right in there, which appears to be an office. directly across the hall from where Weldon was interviewed. We don't know if the door to that office was closed after Bradley entered.

We certainly didn't hear a door close. But they sure did leave the door wide open in the room across the hall where Weldon was. After Bradley leaves, Detective Alan Jones reads Weldon his Miranda writes. Yes. Am I on bottom or a rest? No. No. No.

But if they ask you questions, they're required to give you that. Yeah. If we didn't know if they're right. Yeah. Any time we question somebody or anything like that, that may even possibly be deemed any kind of suspect or anything else, whatever it is, we require to use the red rights. Okay. So it's my first time ever.

I understand. I mean in this situation. I get it. Then Alan brings out his phone to play the 911 call that Weldon made earlier that evening. Say, all right. If you don't mind, I'm not going to kind of scoot up here a little bit because I don't have a speaker other than the phone here. I still come back here. I'm all right here, son. I'm not going to play the call because we have all heard it.

What I will note, though, is that the version, Detention. Detective Allen Jones retrieved from dispatch seems much louder and clearer than what Ori County made available to the public. You can hear the chatter of the other dispatchers in the background, and you can also hear this. Hello. Hello. Hello. I think you're slap it out, back it up, back it up. Are you going to shoot each in there? I know it's hard to hear in this recording of a recording, of a recording, but Bradley says, God damn it, Weldon, why couldn't you fucking leave him alone?

Meaning, Ory County Police Department investigators had this from the very beginning. It didn't take Scott's sister, Jennifer Spivey Foley, discovering Weldon's version where Weldon's side of the call was much clearer to actually hear what Bradley said. To hear, Weldon's co-shooter indicate that this fight was not only a for, but either instigated or escalated by Weldon, his passenger, his best friend, the guy closest to him who knows how Weldon's mind works, who knows Weldon's ticks and his breaking points, the guy whose wife texted him while he was on the toilet to find out what happened the night before and he answered, you know, never a dull moment with Weldon, that guy is chastising

Weldon and possibly implicating him in a crime on a recording that was audible on the Ori County Police version of the 911 call, and yet here we are. Well, I see a whole lot of sunshine in Bradley's future this fall, and I have a feeling that he's not going to like it. Next week, we'll begin listening to Weldon's interview with the police the night of Scott Spivey's killing, and talk about the questions that were asked. and the questions that were not asked. As always, please keep making noise about this case. Please keep telling Henry McMaster and Alan Wilson

that what happened in this investigation was not normal and people need to be held accountable for the corruption that occurred. Please keep writing them letters and leaving them messages and writing on their Facebook pages. We know that they hear us. We know that Alan Wilson and company are praying to baby Jesus that we will all get distracted and let this one go. Well, we will not let this go, and we need your help.

Remember, pressure breaks pipes. Stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight. True Sunlight is a Luna Shark production created by me, Mandy Matney, co-hosted and reported by journalist Liz Pharrell, research support provided by Beth Braden, audio production support provided by Jamie Hoffman, case file management provided by Kate Thomas. Learn more about our mission and membership at LunaSharkmedia.com. Interruptions provided by Luna and Joe Pesky.