South Carolina authorities charged Rep. Nancy Mace’s ex-fiance and two of his business associates with the sex crimes she described in a lengthy House floor speech last year.
South Carolina’s State Law Enforcement Division accused Brendan Patrick Bryant, Ms. Mace’s former fiance, and John Douglas Osborne and Eric Bernard Bowman of taking advantage of an inebriated woman who had passed out during an October 2018 get-together in Charleston.
Mr. Bryant, 53, faces voyeurism charges. Mr. Osborne, 46, was charged with sexual assault and battery. Mr. Bowman, 46, was charged with obstruction of justice, publishing the name of a victim of criminal sexual conduct and voyeurism.
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All three men were jailed in Charleston County, police said Wednesday.
Charging documents say the victim, 23, became so drunk that she fell into a pool. The victim, who had trouble walking and speaking normally, removed her wet clothes and lay down on a sofa with a pillow covering her lower body.
“While the victim was unconscious, Eric Bernard Bowman and codefendants discussed sexual exploits, before agreeing that John Douglas Osborne would have sex with the victim,” the affidavit states.
The affidavit says Mr. Osborne performed sex acts on the woman, as Mr. Bowman and Mr. Bryant took photographs and videos.
A witness inside the home saw the alleged sexual assault taking place on home security cameras, the affidavit says. The witness saved two still images from the camera feed and created a journal detailing what she observed.
Ms. Mace’s floor speech in February 2025 covered how she found the photos and videos of the alleged attack on her ex-fiance’s phone when they were still together.
The South Carolina Republican 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.”
Ms. Mace has not spoken about the alleged assault directly following the arrests, but she has touted bills she introduced to protect sexual assault survivors.
One of her proposals would require plaintiffs who file a defamation or libel lawsuit against an alleged sexual assault victim to pay the defendant’s attorney fees.
“Too often, abusers use the courts as a weapon. They file the lawsuit, run up the legal bills, and wait for survivors to go away. The Speak Your Truth Act changes the math. Sue a survivor for telling the truth and lose, and you pay,” Ms. Mace said.
Ms. Mace is serving her final term in Congress after failing to win the Republican nomination for South Carolina governor.
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