Nancy Mace Case: Three Men Charged Over 2018 Incident

Charges in South Carolina

Three men connected to remarks U.S. Representative Nancy Mace made in a House speech faced sex-crime and voyeurism charges Wednesday over a 2018 incident, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said. They were booked into the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center in Charleston County.

Brendan Patrick Bryant, 53, Mace's former fiancé, was charged with voyeurism. John Douglas Osborne, 46, whom Mace described in her speech as Bryant's business associate, faces first-degree assault and battery and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Eric Bernard Bowman, 46, another of Bryant's business associates, was charged with voyeurism, obstruction of justice and publishing the name of a victim of criminal sexual conduct.

The charges concern an evening in October 2018 in Charleston, S.C. Mace described the episode at length in a speech on the House floor last year. The men face charges connected to that incident, but those charges are allegations; the article reports no court finding on them.

What the affidavit says

According to an arrest affidavit, the woman was 23 at the time. She had fallen into a pool and later passed out on a couch, where she lay covering herself with a pillow after taking off her wet clothes. Police described her as drunk and incapacitated, according to records.

The affidavit says Osborne performed sex acts on the woman while Bryant and Bowman watched. It also says the men discussed who should assault her first, then photographed and recorded the assault. The affidavit makes those claims; the article reports no court finding.

The reported charges differ by person. Bryant faces a voyeurism charge. Osborne faces first-degree assault and battery and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Bowman faces voyeurism, obstruction of justice and a charge involving publication of the name of a victim of criminal sexual conduct.

The briefing mention

The Washington Post's The Seven morning briefing, titled "Catch up quickly: Execution live stream; Nancy Mace; regrowing knees," listed its seven most important and interesting stories. Its visible item about Ukraine said Kyiv reported that the country's access to Starlink had been restricted without warning.

The briefing mention and the South Carolina charges are separate details in the source article. The briefing's title includes Nancy Mace, while its visible Ukraine item concerns Kyiv's report about Starlink access. The article gives no further detail about that item, and it doesn't say the Ukraine report was connected to the charges.

Mace's House speech, the charges announced by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the briefing's list are the matters reported. The charges stem from the 2018 incident described in the affidavit. The article identifies the people charged, the allegations attributed to the affidavit and the limited content of the briefing's visible Ukraine item.