[Ed. note: The piece was updated after press upon receiving confirmation that James Osborne has been arrested.]
SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — A registered sex offender and convicted felon who illegally cast a ballot in local elections over the last two years has been investigated and arrested by the feds.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Julia Hanish details in a March 23 criminal complaint for the United States District Court for the Eastern District that she obtained enough probable cause to find James Osborne in violation of United States voting codes. Hanish asserts Osborne provided false statements on voter registration and ballot forms in the November 2024 and 2025 elections, as well as the 2026 March Primary Election.
READ MORE: Dem Party expands vetting after Southerland scandal, replacement process detailed
Hanish’s complaint was filed in support of an arrest warrant. The FBI confirmed to Port City Daily after press that Osborne was arrested and turned over to the US Marshals Service; he is scheduled for a detention and probable cause hearing on March 31, 9:30 a.m., at downtown Wilmington’s Alton Lennon Federal Building, 2 Princess St.
Osborne admitted to local media he cast a ballot earlier this month in the primary election. North Carolina law prohibits anyone convicted of a felony from voting until their probation ends; Osborne remains under supervised release for obtaining child pornography until January 2028.
He told WWAY he voted because he thought North Carolina followed the Second Chance Act. Though the act does not allow felons to vote, it provides grant money to help prevent recidivism and provides funding toward housing, employment and expunctions of certain charges.
Osborne has garnered attention from the recent primary election due to living with a former school board candidate, Rick Southerland. Southerland placed fourth among six Democratic candidates to move ahead to November’s 2026 general election, where four seats will be decided on the school board.
However, a day after his March 3 primary win, WHQR broke the news that Southerland lived with a registered sex offender, Osborne — who also helped him campaign in the last few months. Area leaders, the Democratic Party and co-candidates asked Southerland to step down after learning he did not reveal this personal detail during the vetting process.
Many determined it a bad judgment call, as New Hanover County Schools and the board of education has been embroiled in numerous lawsuits over the sex abuse of former teachers throughout the years. Southerland chalked up the oversight to naïveté, stating he didn’t know he needed to disclose personal information of people close to him and added Osborne’s backstory inspired him to take action and work for kids, since Osborne, too, was a victim of sexual assault.
Osborne said his conviction came from an image and video search of his own childhood abuse. He claims to have been kidnapped, drugged and raped as a pre-teen, and learned in 2020 there was evidence of it on the internet. In attempt to find the material, he downloaded the Telegram app but deleted it after looking through disturbing imagery; however, more than 13,000 images of child pornography stayed on his phone’s memory card, he said.
It was confiscated during an incident with police, who found the images, ultimately leading to Osborne’s conviction. The state of Virginia dropped 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse imagery, including seven felony counts but Osborne was indicted in federal court on two related charges of possessing and transporting child sexual abuse imagery. He pleaded to one count for a more forgiving sentence of 36 months in prison, 15 years of supervised release and inclusion on the national sex offender list.
Osborne wrote a letter to the broader community after the scandal broke, defending his situation and explaining “the label of ‘sex offender’ does not automatically define someone as a predator.”
Two weeks later, the now-suspended New Hanover County Elections director, DeNay Harris — in her role for less than two months — admitted to Port City Daily and WHQR in a joint report that she counted Osborne’s ballot from the 2026 primary election. (For a laundry list of other reasons, Harris faces termination from her position from the county BOE, which has started the official petition process with the North Carolina State Board of Elections to have her removed.)
FBI agent Hanish details in her affidavit that Osborne also cast a 2024 presidential election ballot in Brunswick County after agreeing to the official authorization to vote form. Every voter signs one on the honor system, indicating: “I have not been convicted of a felony, or if so, I have completed my sentence (including any probation, post-release supervision, or parole).”
To lie about it is a Class I felony; penalties can lead up to 12 months or so in prison.
The FBI agent noted Osborne’s supervised release lasts through Jan. 25, 2038. Thus, his ballot was fraudulently cast at Belville Elementary School in Brunswick County.
In North Carolina, a registered sex offender is not allowed within 300 feet of school grounds, per state law. However, eligible voters who are sex offenders must adhere to strict rules under G.S. 14-208.18(e) if their precinct is at a school — including to notify the principal before entering, stay in the polling area, and leave immediately after casting a ballot.
Fast forward to November 2025, Hanish found Osborne submitted a provisional voting application in New Hanover County, regarding a change to his voter registration. Filling this out as a felon under supervised release also is perjury, the FBI agent indicated, as was his Feb. 25 vote in the 2026 primary election, further certifying incorrect information.
“Osborne knowingly and willfully deprived, defrauded, or attempted to deprive or defraud the residents of the State of North Carolina of a fair and impartially conducted election process,” registering and then voting under “false, fictitious, or fraudulent” pretenses under state law, Hanish reports.
She also lays out that Osborne broke probation twice during his sentence, for testing positive for illegal substances. It led to a modification of his supervision, with a curfew of 60 days with electronic monitoring in October 2024. Around six months later, in April 2025, Hanish states Osborne tested positive for illegal substances again and agreed to another similar supervised modification as endured the previous fall.
Osborne will be provided a federal public offender, G. Alan Dubois, signed off on March 26, by Magistrate Judge Robert Jones Jr. Dubois has requested all discovery — documents, interviews, recordings, names of witnesses, and other items relevant to the investigation into Osborne — and disclosure of exculpatory evidence.
Dubois’ office said it could not respond to the media about its cases.
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