Former Conway day care operator charged with forgery after obtaining $91K in fraudulent grants, warrants show

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — A Conway man has been arrested on forgery and breach of trust charges after fraudulently obtaining $91,000 in grant funds from the Department of Social Services, according to arrest warrants.

Rodney Wayne Cox, 60, has been charged with forgery of $10,000 or more, two counts of forgery under $10,000 and breach of trust with fraudulent intent of $5,000 or more.

Arrest warrants provided to News13 from the South Carolina Department of Social Services said that between May 20, 2020, and June 8, 2021, Cox obtained $91,000 in South Carolina Building Blocks grant funds while serving as the owner of Conway Christian Academy LLC.

Cox submitted three fraudulent invoices dated Aug. 24, 2021, June 30, 2021, and July 30, 2021, from “Christopher Sellers Construction”, totaling more than $24,000 as documentation for expenditures that did not occur, the warrants show. In total, he missed more than $24,000 in SCBB grant funds.

Cox was also under investigation in 2022 after allegations that he sexually assaulted a child at the day care that he worked at.

Between August 2021 and January 2022, Cox was accused of bending a child over his knee and spanking her repeatedly. He was accused of sexually assaulting a child in another incidence.

Cox was charged with unlawful conduct toward a child in that instance.

Cox is the former owner and operator of Conway Christian Academy, which no longer has a license from DSS to operate in South Carolina.

He was released from the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on Wednesday afternoon on a $30,000 bond, jail records show.