COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The former fiancé of U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace and two of his business associates were charged Wednesday with sex crimes and voyeurism following an episode detailed by the South Carolina congresswoman during a news conference. speech last year on the Home on the fact that crimes against women are not thoroughly investigated.
John Douglas Osborne performed sexual acts on an incapacitated and intoxicated 23-year-old woman while Mace’s ex-fiancé, Patrick Bryant and Eric Bernard Bowman looked on, according to affidavits from agents of the state Law Enforcement Division, who brought the charges.
The men talked about who was going to attack the woman beforehand, took photos and recorded the assault, which was also seen on a security system at the home in Sullivan’s Island, an affluent suburb of Charleston, state agents said. The woman had fallen into a swimming pool and passed out on a couch, covering herself with a pillow, officers said.
Another woman watching the broadcast saw the attack, took photos and wrote about it in a newspaper, police said. Mace and Bryant were not yet engaged at the time of the October 2018 assault.
Osborne, 46, is charged with first-degree battery and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Bryant, 53, and Bowman, 46, are each accused of voyeurism.
Along with the voyeurism charge, Bowman was also charged with obstructing justice after officers said he performed a factory reset on a cellphone he knew investigators were looking for in a search warrant, and with posting the name of a victim of criminal sexual conduct after posting the victim’s name and a video of her on X.
Bryant did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday, and attorneys who were listed as representing Bowman and Osborne in other cases did not immediately return messages.
Mace, a Republican, described the assault at length in a nearly hour-long speech in February 2025 that named the men and described other photos and videos found when she looked at Bryant’s cellphone while they were still together.
Mace said she “accidentally uncovered some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable. We’re talking about rape, non-consensual photos, non-consensual videos of women and underage girls, and the premeditated and calculated exploitation of women and girls in my district.”
At the time, Bryant completely denied the allegations. “I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any legal proceedings necessary to clear my name,” he told The Associated Press.
The State Law Enforcement Division has not said whether its investigation into any of the men continues.
After the arrests, Mace released a statement detailing the 25 bills she said will protect victims of sexual assault, harassment or discrimination, including from retaliation for defamation and defamation lawsuits that could result from the allegations they highlight.
The republican, who is leave the house this term after lose your offer to be governor of South Carolina, introduced a proposal this week requiring that anyone who brings such a case and loses must pay the defendant’s attorney fees.
“Protecting women and holding predators accountable is not a slogan. It is one of my top priorities in Congress. For too long, survivors have faced failed systems while predators exploited the loopholes and walked free,” Mace said in her statement.
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