South Carolina Charges 3 Men in 2018 Sex-Crimes Case Tied to Nancy Mace Speech

Q: What crucial digital evidence was lost when a suspect allegedly wiped his phone before investigators could execute their search warrant?

The lost evidence was the phone’s stored data — most importantly any photos or video, messages, and other records that could have documented the alleged assault and related communications. According to investigators, Eric Bowman allegedly factory-reset the phone on March 23, 2025, after learning SLED was seeking it under a search warrant. When he turned over the device days later, forensic review showed it had been reactivated after the reset, which removed the phone’s prior contents. In this case, that erased material could have included recordings or photographs of the 2018 incident, communications among the men, and other metadata or account information useful to investigators. Authorities said the wipe impeded the investigation, which is why Bowman was also charged with obstruction of justice.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 15

Three men accused by Representative Nancy Mace in a House floor speech last year were charged Wednesday over an alleged 2018 sexual assault in Charleston, including her former fiancé Brendan Patrick Bryant, 53.
Arrest records say a 23-year-old woman, drunk and incapacitated after falling into a pool, passed out on a couch while John Douglas Osborne, 46, allegedly performed sex acts on her.
Investigators said Bryant and Eric Bernard Bowman, 46, watched, discussed who should assault the woman first, and photographed and recorded the attack.
Bryant was charged with voyeurism; Osborne with first-degree assault and battery and 2 counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct; Bowman with voyeurism, obstruction of justice and publishing a victim's name.
All 3 were booked into the Al Cannon Detention Center in Charleston County, turning allegations Mace aired publicly last year into a criminal case.