Bowman faces obstruction count over phone reset, victim-name post
The State Law Enforcement Division charged Patrick Bryant, the former fiance of Rep. Nancy Mace, along with John Douglas Osborne and Eric Bernard Bowman, with sex crimes and voyeurism on Wednesday over an October 2018 assault on Sullivan’s Island. Mace, a Republican, described the episode in detail during a nearly hourlong February 2025 speech on the House floor about how crimes against women are not investigated thoroughly.
According to sworn statements by state agents, Osborne committed sex acts on a 23-year-old incapacitated and intoxicated woman while Bryant and Bowman watched. The men talked about who would assault the woman beforehand, took photos, and recorded the assault, which agents said was also seen on a security system 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, agents said.
Another woman who happened to be watching the feed saw the assault, took pictures, and wrote about it in a journal, police said. Mace and Bryant were not yet engaged at the time of the assault.
Osborne, 46, is charged with 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 said he did a factory reset on a phone he knew investigators were seeking in a search warrant, and by publishing 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 on Wednesday, and attorneys who have been listed as representing Bowman and Osborne in other cases did not immediately return messages.
In the speech, Mace named the three men and described other photos and videos found when she looked at Bryant’s phone 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, calculated exploitation of women and girls in my district.”
At the time, Bryant denied the allegations. “I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name,” he told The Associated Press.
The State Law Enforcement Division did not say whether its investigation into any of the men is continuing.
After the arrests, Mace released a statement detailing the 25 bills she says will protect victims of sexual assault, harassment or discrimination, including in retaliatory defamation and libel lawsuits that may result from allegations they bring to light. Mace, who is leaving the House this term after losing her bid to be South Carolina governor, introduced a proposal this week that would require anyone who brings such a case and loses to pay attorney fees for the defendant.
“Protecting women and holding predators accountable isn’t a slogan. It’s been one of my top priorities in Congress. For too long, survivors have faced broken systems while predators exploited loopholes and walked free,” Mace said in her statement.