A South Carolina Republican lawmaker — who as soon as preached concerning the significance of safeguarding youngsters from pointless hurt — is accused of distributing greater than 200 recordsdata of kid pornography on-line whereas utilizing the display title “joebidennnn69,” federal prosecutors alleged.
Robert “RJ” Could, 38, a member of the Home of Representatives within the Palmetto State, was arrested at his Lexington County dwelling Wednesday on a 10-count indictment charging him with distributing youngster intercourse abuse materials, courtroom paperwork confirmed.
The married father of two used “joebidennnn69” and several other different person names to trade 220 obscene recordsdata containing extraordinarily graphic footage of kids and toddlers engaged in intercourse acts on the messaging app Kik over 5 days final spring, federal prosecutors alleged.
The three-term rep allegedly downloaded the sickening recordsdata on his dwelling Wi-Fi community and cellphone, prosecutors stated, noting that some recordsdata had been hidden utilizing a non-public community whereas others had been immediately linked to his private IP deal with.
Legal professionals for Could recommended at his arraignment that another person might have been utilizing his WiFi password to acquire and share the twisted photographs.
Officers launched their investigation after the social app flagged suspicious exercise to the Nationwide Heart for Lacking and Exploited Kids in April 2024.
Homeland Safety brokers searched Could’s home in August 2024 and seized almost three dozen digital units from his dwelling, together with a laptop computer, a pill, 4 cell telephones, 4 onerous drives, and 19 thumbdrives, The State reported.
On a kind of seized units, Could allegedly saved a number of movies of himself on journeys to Colombia participating in intercourse with three girls who gave the impression to be underage and had been paid, a DHS official testified.
Prosecutors requested that Is probably not given bail as a result of his two youngsters are the identical age as those that had been exploited within the illicit materials.
Could, first elected in 2020, based the Home Freedom Caucus within the state as a part of a hard-line conservative motion that ran to the suitable of many Republicans, in line with The State.
The Home Freedom Caucus expelled Could on Wednesday following his arrest with former allies now calling on him to resign from his place within the state home, that report said.
The congressman was a vocal advocate for pet conservative causes equivalent to defending the household.
“We as legislators have an obligation to ensure that our children have no harm done to them,” Could stated in January 2024 throughout a debate on transgender take care of minors, simply months after his home was raided by feds.
He was ordered to stay in jail till his trial.
Every cost carries a five-to-20-year jail sentence.
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