Former York Co. day care worker accused of improperly touching kids faces more charges

A former day care worker charged with improperly touching two 8-year-old children last year was arrested Tuesday on two more charges, according to police and jail records.

Steven Matthew Gentry, 29, of Rock Hill, was arrested Tuesday on two counts of third-degree sexual assault in which the victim is under age 14, records show.

Gentry was charged Tuesday after another alleged victim, who is 7, told his mother in January that Gentry “touched him inappropriately,” said Trent Faris, spokesman for the York County Sheriff’s Office. Faris said the new charges stem from the same investigation as the original charges.

Gentry worked at Smart Kids’ Child Development Center in Fort Mill until 2016, when day care officials learned that Gentry was being investigated, officials at the center said at the time Gentry was arrested in late April 2016. After the investigation began, his employment there was terminated, officials said.

Police said in April that the S.C. Department of Social Services started investigating Gentry in late March 2016, then told law enforcement about the allegations.

The day care center sent a letter to parents in March 2016 telling them about the investigation.

The four April 2016 charges remain pending, court records show.

This story was originally published February 14, 2017 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Former York Co. day care worker accused of improperly touching kids faces more charges."