Three men, including the former fiancé of U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, were charged Wednesday, Oct. 14, by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) in connection with a 2018 incident at a home on Sullivan’s Island.
The case involves an incident that Mace described during a speech on the U.S. House floor in February 2025.
The charges
According to SLED:
- John Douglas Osborne, 46, is charged with first-degree assault and battery and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
- Patrick Bryant, 53, Mace’s former fiancé, is charged with voyeurism.
- Eric Bernard Bowman, 46, is charged with voyeurism and obstruction of justice.
What investigators say happened
According to sworn statements from SLED agents, the incident happened in October 2018 at a home on Sullivan’s Island. Agents say Osborne sexually assaulted a 23-year-old woman who was intoxicated and incapacitated, while Bryant and Bowman watched.
Investigators say the men took photos and recorded the assault. Agents also say the incident was captured on the home’s security camera system, and another woman who was watching the camera feed at the time took pictures and wrote about what she saw in a journal.
Mace and Bryant were not engaged at the time.
Obstruction charge
SLED says Bowman’s obstruction charge stems from two things: agents say he factory reset a phone he knew investigators were trying to get with a search warrant, and he publicly posted the name and a video of the woman on social media.
The woman has not been publicly identified by SLED, and we are not naming her.
Responses
Bryant did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Attorneys who have represented Bowman and Osborne in other cases also did not respond right away.
When Mace first made the allegations in 2025, Bryant denied them and said he would cooperate with any legal process to clear his name. He has also filed a defamation lawsuit against Mace, saying her accusations against him are false.
After the arrests, Mace released a statement highlighting bills she has introduced to protect victims of sexual assault, including a proposal that would require people who bring and lose defamation lawsuits against victims to pay the other side’s legal fees. Mace is leaving Congress at the end of her term after losing her race for South Carolina governor.
SLED has not said whether its investigation is still ongoing.
Osborne, Bryant and Bowman are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in court.
Sources: South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, as reported by The Guardian and the Associated Press; ABC News 4
