Ex-fiancé of US Rep. Nancy Mace and two associates charged with sex crimes
South Carolina state authorities have charged three men, including the former fiancé of US Representative Nancy Mace, over a 2018 assault on a 23-year-old woman. Mace described the case in detail in a House speech in February 2025.
The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division on Wednesday charged three men with sex crimes and voyeurism, including Patrick Bryant, the former fiancé of Republican US Representative Nancy Mace. The case concerns an assault in October 2018 that Mace described at length in a speech on the House floor last year, when she argued that crimes against women are not investigated thoroughly enough.
What investigators allege
According to sworn statements by state agents, John Douglas Osborne, 46, committed sex acts on a 23-year-old woman who was incapacitated and intoxicated, while Bryant and Eric Bernard Bowman watched. Agents say the men discussed beforehand who would assault her, and took photos and recorded the incident. It was also visible on a security camera feed at the home in Sullivan's Island, an affluent suburb of Charleston. The woman had fallen into a pool and was passed out on a couch, covering herself with a pillow.
Another woman who happened to be watching the feed saw the assault, took pictures and wrote about it in a journal. Mace and Bryant were not yet engaged at the time.
The charges
Osborne faces a charge of first-degree assault and battery and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Bryant, 53, and Bowman, 46, are each charged with voyeurism. Bowman also faces an obstruction of justice charge: agents say he factory-reset a phone he knew investigators were seeking under a search warrant. He is further charged with publishing the name of a victim of criminal sexual conduct, after posting her name and a video of her on X.
Bryant did not respond to a request for comment, and attorneys listed as representing Bowman and Osborne in other cases did not immediately reply. In 2025 Bryant fully denied the allegations, telling The Associated Press he would cooperate with legal processes to clear his name. The agency did not say whether its investigation is continuing.
Mace's response
In her nearly hourlong speech in February 2025, Mace named the men and described other photos and videos she found on Bryant's phone while they were together. After the arrests, she issued a statement detailing 25 bills she says will protect victims of sexual assault, harassment or discrimination, including from retaliatory defamation and libel lawsuits. This week she introduced a proposal requiring anyone who brings such a case and loses to pay the defendant's attorney fees. Mace is leaving the House this term after losing her bid to become South Carolina governor.
