SPARTANBURG COUNTY, SC — An Upstate South Carolina police officer has been arrested on multiple charges after investigators say he paid for sexual acts at a massage parlor, filed a false fraud claim with a credit union and later lied to state agents.
Fredrick Trent Payne, 43, an officer with the Pacolet Police Department, was arrested Thursday by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. He faces charges including prostitution, a crime against a federally chartered financial institution and obstruction of justice.
Warrants say the case stems from a May 5, 2026, payment at Royal Spring Massage on Boiling Springs Road in Spartanburg. Payne was booked into the Spartanburg County Detention Center.
Warrants say Payne used a debit card for the encounter and later disputed the charge
According to the arrest warrants, Payne paid $203 with a debit card to receive sexual acts at the business. Investigators say the transaction took place at Royal Spring Massage, which is located on Boiling Springs Road in Spartanburg.
The warrants also state that Payne later filed a fraud claim with Founders Federal Credit Union on May 11 for $276. Investigators determined that he had used his card in person to make the purchase, and the overdraft on his account followed from that transaction.
The charge tied to the credit union reflects an allegation that he made a false claim about the card use. Authorities have not released any additional details about the credit union dispute beyond what is outlined in the warrants.
State investigators say Payne gave false statements in a May interview
Payne is also accused of giving false statements to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents on May 21. That allegation led to the obstruction of justice charge listed in the arrest paperwork.
The warrants do not spell out every question investigators asked or the exact answers Payne allegedly gave. They do show that state agents believe he misled them during their inquiry into the massage parlor payment and the later credit union claim.
SLED is handling the investigation, and the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office is prosecuting the case. Neither agency has said what penalties Payne could face if convicted on all of the charges.
Pacolet Police Department has not said whether Payne remained on the force
It is not clear whether Payne was still employed by the Pacolet Police Department when he was arrested. The department has been reached for comment, but no response was included with the information made public about the arrest.
That uncertainty leaves open whether the arrest immediately affected his status with the agency. For now, the public record only identifies him as a Pacolet officer at the time the charges were announced.
The department’s silence also means there is no official account yet of how the arrest may affect local policing or Payne’s duties, if any, before the case was filed.
Payne previously worked for two other Spartanburg County law enforcement agencies
Before joining the Pacolet Police Department, Payne worked for the Spartanburg County Detention Center and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office said he was fired from that department in July 2024.
Those earlier jobs place the case within a broader local law enforcement background, although officials have not said whether the prior employment history is connected to the current charges. The detention center and sheriff’s office are both in Spartanburg County.
The arrest has drawn attention because it involves a sworn officer facing accusations that include prostitution, fraud-related conduct and lying to investigators. The case now moves forward under the state attorney general’s office.
What the charges mean as the case moves through South Carolina courts
The case is still at the charging stage, and the public details so far come from the warrants and law enforcement statements. Payne has been booked into the county detention center while the prosecution proceeds.
At this point, authorities have described the alleged conduct in three parts: the massage parlor payment, the disputed fraud claim and the statements to state agents. Those allegations form the basis of the criminal case, but the legal process will determine what can be proved in court.
For Spartanburg County residents, the arrest adds another high-profile law enforcement case to a region where officers often serve in multiple agencies over the course of their careers. The next developments are likely to come from court filings and any statement released by the Pacolet Police Department or prosecutors.
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