Conway daycare worker arrested for allegedly turning 5-year-old upside down, injuring her
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include that charges against the person arrested were expunged. (Updated 1:30 p.m. May 8, 2026)
A Conway area daycare worker who was arrested after allegedly spinning a child around by her arm, resulting in an arm sprain, has had her charges expunged after participating in a pretrial intervention program.
Horry County Police charged the woman on March 12 for cruelty to children, torture, deprivation, the arrest warrants show. The woman worked at the Coastal Children’s Academy, 286 Dunn Shortcut Road.
The daycare declined to comment.
Security cameras captured part of the incident, the police report said.
On Jan. 29, a 5-year-old girl disrupted class by running out of one classroom into another and then threw a block at a teacher and child, which did not cause any injuries, according to the police report. She then ran under a play kitchen to hide before attempting to crawl away, which is when the woman caught the child.
The day care worker grabbed the girl by her arms from behind, held her limbs behind her back and carried her across the room. This caused the victim to scream in pain, the report said. The worker set the girl down but held on to her arms as the child tried to crawl away again.
“The offender then picks the victim up by one arm, spins her in the air upside down and carries her out of the room by one arm and one leg while upside down. The victim again screams in pain during this,” the police report said.
The girl went to urgent care, where doctor’s diagnosed her with a sprained arm, according to the report. She also had bruising on her arm and leg where the worker allegedly grabbed her — although the complainants said she has a medical condition that causes her to bruise easily, the report said.
Police spoke to the woman, who said the girl had an outburst and the daycare worker thought she was a danger to other children.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 1:36 PM.
