Which republican politicians were charged with sex crimes between 2020 and 2025?
Executive summary
Available reporting identifies multiple Republican officeholders and political figures who faced criminal charges for sex-related crimes during 2020–2025, including a South Carolina state representative indicted in 2025 on 10 federal counts for distributing child sexual-abuse material (RJ May) [1] [2]. Broad surveys from PBS, The 19th and Ballotpedia show many allegations and some criminal charges against both parties at state levels but do not provide a single comprehensive, party-sorted list for 2020–2025 [3] [4] [5].
1. What the sources clearly document: named criminal charges against Republicans
Reporting in mid‑2025 documents that South Carolina state Rep. R.J. (RJ) May, a Republican, was arrested and federally charged in June 2025 with 10 counts of distributing child sexual‑abuse material, accused of exchanging hundreds of files of videos depicting toddlers and young children in spring 2024; prosecutors say each count carries a 5–20 year sentence [1] [2]. Ballotpedia’s misconduct tracking also lists an R.J. May entry noting an indictment on child sexual‑abuse material charges [5].
2. Big picture: allegations vs. criminal charges across statehouses
Large, nonpartisan tallies show that sexual misconduct allegations in state government remained widespread through 2024–2025, with Republicans and Democrats both implicated. PBS reported 147 lawmakers in 44 states accused of harassment or misconduct since 2017 and noted that Republicans and Democrats are nearly equally accused in one dataset [3]. The 19th and NWDL reporting summarized in The 19th found hundreds of allegations against state lawmakers across a decade, underscoring this as a systemic, bipartisan problem rather than one confined to a single party [4].
3. Why a concise, verified list for 2020–2025 is hard to produce from these sources
Available sources mix allegations, ethics probes, and criminal filings; many pieces are inventories of misconduct stretching back years and do not break out every criminal charge by party and year 2020–2025. For example, PBS and The 19th focus on allegations and policy context rather than a year‑by‑year, party‑segregated criminal‑charge list [3] [4]. Ballotpedia and GovTrack compile misconduct but are framed as ongoing databases rather than a sealed list limited to 2020–2025 [5] [6]. Therefore, a fully comprehensive, party‑specific roster drawn solely from these materials is not present in current reporting: available sources do not mention a complete list of all Republican politicians charged with sex crimes between 2020 and 2025.
4. Notable adjacent cases and contested items in reporting
Some high‑profile figures have long been subject to accusations or investigations without criminal charges in this window: for example, reporting and ethics probes referenced in Stateline and other outlets involve Republican federal figures such as Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan in different capacities, but those pieces either note investigations without criminal convictions or concern older incidents or alleged failures to report [7] [8]. The Wikipedia list and other compilations include allegations and historical scandals but are not a primary source for criminal charges specifically within 2020–2025 [9].
5. Competing perspectives and partisan framing in coverage
News outlets vary in tone and emphasis. Fact‑driven outlets (Associated Press, PBS, AP‑syndicated reports) present charges and counts with court document detail for cases like R.J. May [1] [2] [10]. Advocacy or partisan compilations (DailyKos, bespoke lists) advance broader narratives about party patterns but mix allegations, convictions, and historical cases with varying sourcing standards [11] [12]. Readers should separate court filings and indictments—which are documented in AP and Guardian reporting about May—from broader allegation tallies or partisan lists that may include uncharged or older incidents [1] [2] [3].
6. What this means for the original question and next steps
If you want a verified roster of Republican politicians criminally charged between 2020 and 2025, the sources provided identify R.J. May (indicted June 2025) as a clear, documented example [1] [2]. For a comprehensive list, additional systematic searches of court records, AP/PBS-style tallies, Ballotpedia’s misconduct database and state news archives for each year 2020–2025 would be required; available sources do not contain that complete, party‑sorted list [5] [3] [6]. I can compile a candidate list if you want me to search more widely through specified outlets or court/indictment databases.