South Carolina state investigators charged three men on Wednesday, Oct. 14, with sex-related crimes tied to an October 2018 episode at a home on Sullivan’s Island, a community near Charleston. The men are Patrick Bryant, the former fiancé of U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.; Eric Bernard Bowman; and John Douglas Osborne. ABC News reported that Bowman and Osborne are business associates of Bryant. Mace named all three in a February 2025 speech on the House floor.
The State Law Enforcement Division, known as SLED, brought the charges. Bryant, 53, and Bowman, 46, each face a voyeurism charge. Osborne, 46, faces a first-degree assault and battery count plus two third-degree sexual conduct counts. Bowman faces two additional charges. Investigators say he performed a factory reset on a cellphone they had sought under a search warrant, which led to an obstruction charge. He is also accused of publishing the name of a victim on the social media platform X, according to ABC News.
What the affidavits allege
According to sworn statements and probable cause affidavits cited by ABC News and FITSNews, Osborne sexually assaulted a 23-year-old woman who was incapacitated by alcohol while Bryant and Bowman watched. The documents allege the men discussed sexual activity beforehand and that Bryant and Bowman took photos or video. Investigators say the episode also appeared on a home security feed. A witness who watched it saved two still images and wrote about it in a journal.
Attorneys for Bryant and Osborne told a magistrate that neither man has a prior criminal record, the Post and Courier reported. Associate Chief Magistrate Laura Beck set bail at $50,000 for Bryant, $225,000 for Osborne and $175,000 total for Bowman. Addressing Osborne, Beck called the allegations “egregious.” The woman, now 29, submitted a written statement read by a victim advocate. She described lasting harm to her sense of safety, privacy and trust.
Mace’s speech and the lawsuits that followed
Mace described the allegations at length in a speech of nearly an hour in February 2025. She said she had uncovered rape, nonconsensual images and the exploitation of women and girls in her district. Bryant denied the allegations at the time. He later sued Mace for defamation, and she has claimed protection under the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution, the New York Post reported.
Mace is leaving the House at the end of this term after losing a bid for South Carolina governor. After the arrests, she released a statement listing 25 bills meant to help people harmed by sexual assault, harassment or discrimination. One proposal she introduced this week would require anyone who files such a suit and loses to pay the defendant’s attorney fees, ABC News reported.
Not every man Mace named has been charged. FITSNews reported that Brian Musgrave, who has sued Mace over the accusations, was not charged in the investigation. The outlet cited memos from state prosecutors that described Mace’s claims about Musgrave as unsupported by evidence.
Prosecutors in the Ninth Circuit solicitor’s office will handle the cases, FITSNews reported. Bryant, Bowman and Osborne are presumed innocent until proven guilty. SLED did not say whether it is still investigating any of the men, ABC News reported, and no further court dates were reported. Bryant did not return a request for comment, and lawyers named in other filings for Bowman and Osborne had not replied right away.
