How many Republican politicians have been arrested for child crimes in 2025

1. Known 2025 arrests and charges involving Republican politicians and minors — immediate facts

Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn was arrested in March 2025 on suspicion of soliciting what officers believed to be a 17‑year‑old and later faced federal charges for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor; he subsequently resigned amid calls from GOP colleagues for his departure ^{[1] [2]}. South Carolina state Rep. Robert John “RJ” May, a Lexington County Republican and cofounder of a state House Freedom Caucus faction, was arrested in June 2025 and federally indicted on 10 counts of distributing child sexual abuse material; federal judges ordered him detained pending trial and he was suspended/expelled from caucus roles after the indictment ^{[3] [4] [8]}.

2. Sources agree on specifics but not on a comprehensive tally

Ballotpedia’s list of “noteworthy criminal misconduct” flags RJ May as an R indicted on child sexual abuse material charges in 2025, and PBS and other outlets track sex‑misconduct allegations across parties, including cases involving minors ^{[5] [6]}. GovTrack and other databases exist to catalogue legislator misconduct, but the dataset excerpts here do not provide a definitive, up‑to‑date national count for 2025 arrests specifically tied to child crimes ^[7]. In short, individual cases are well documented; a singular authoritative national number for “how many Republican politicians were arrested for child crimes in 2025” is not provided in these sources ^{[5] [7]}.

3. What the reporting covers — types of alleged offenses and jurisdictions

The documented incidents span different categories: enticement/solicitation of a minor (Justin Eichorn, Minnesota) and distribution/possession of child sexual abuse material (RJ May, South Carolina) ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}. Reporting is state‑level (state senate, state house) and federal prosecutors handled at least the distribution/CSAM indictment, showing coordination between local arrests and federal charges in some cases ^{[3] [8]}.

4. Political reactions and institutional consequences documented in reporting

Following arrests and indictments, party officials and legislative leaders reacted publicly: GOP senators called for Eichorn’s resignation, and the South Carolina House speaker suspended RJ May after the federal indictment while the Freedom Caucus expelled him, reflecting bipartisan and intra‑party pressure to remove or sideline accused members ^{[2] [3] [4] [9]}.

5. Limits of available reporting and why a precise national count is elusive

Available sources list notable cases and maintain trackers of misconduct, but they do not claim to enumerate every Republican politician arrested nationwide in 2025 for crimes involving children ^{[5] [7]}. Some outlets compile broader tallies of sexual‑misconduct allegations since 2017, but those aggregates mix types of misconduct and include both parties, and the PBS reporting highlights many cases without producing a year‑specific Republican arrest count for child crimes in 2025 ^[6]. Therefore, a definitive nationwide total cannot be cited from the documents you provided ^{[5] [7]}.

6. How to get a more complete and reliable count

To build a comprehensive 2025 tally you would need to consult: federal and state court dockets for 2025 indictments and arrests, state attorney general and U.S. Attorney press releases, and continuously updated misconduct databases (Ballotpedia, GovTrack) while cross‑checking local news reporting for each jurisdiction ^{[3] [7] [5]}. The sources here demonstrate the method — documented arrests plus official indictments and press statements — but do not themselves produce the nationwide number you asked for ^{[3] [4] [1]}.

7. Bottom line for your original question

Based on the provided reporting, at least two Republican state lawmakers were arrested or federally charged in 2025 in matters involving minors or child sexual abuse material: Justin Eichorn (Minnesota) and RJ May (South Carolina) ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}. Available sources do not mention a definitive nationwide count of all Republican politicians arrested for child crimes in 2025, so a precise total beyond these documented cases cannot be stated from the current reporting ^{[5] [7]}.