Oklahoma City Daycare Owner Convicted of Obstructing Audit and Embezzling Funds Meant for Childcare

OKLAHOMA CITY – PRISCILLA ORANGE, 67, of Oklahoma City, has been convicted of obstructing a federal audit and two counts of federal program theft, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

On April 16, 2025, a federal Grand Jury returned a three-count Indictment against Orange, charging her with the crimes listed above. On September 10, 2025, after a two-day trial, a federal jury found Orange guilty on all counts. Orange owned and operated Rainbow Connection Child Care & Learning Center (Rainbow Connection), a childcare center with multiple locations in the Western District of Oklahoma. Evidence presented at trial indicated that, in 2021, the Oklahoma Department of Education launched an audit of reimbursements provided to Rainbow Connection by the Child Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CACFP funded nutritious meals and snacks for low-income children at participating childcare centers. Since at least 2013, Rainbow Connection participated in CACFP and received approximately $1,555,000. The 2021 audit was intended to verify that Orange had served as many meals and snacks to children as she had previously claimed each month and for which she had been reimbursed. Testimony at trial showed that, in an attempt to obstruct the audit, Orange submitted false and fraudulent food-related expenses to the Oklahoma Department of Education.

Additionally, trial evidence showed that Orange applied for and received childcare stabilization grants (CCSGs), money allocated by Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Childcare centers that received CCSGs were required to use the money for approved business expenses. In all, Rainbow Connection received nearly $500,000 from the CCSG program. Evidence at trial showed that Orange used Rainbow Connection accounts to gamble at local casinos and otherwise diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars for personal use.

At sentencing, Orange faces up to 25 years in federal prison, and fines of up to $750,000.

This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Assistant U.S. Attorneys D.H. Dilbeck and Jackson D. Eldridge are prosecuting the case.

Reference is made to public filings for additional information.