Ex-county probation officer among six charged in child-care scam

Six people have been charged for their alleged involvement in a child-care service scam, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Friday.

One of the six, Frank Elliott Boyd III, worked as a probation officer in Los Angeles County, according to a news release. Boyd, his ex-girlfriend and the four others have been charged with conspiracy, grand theft and perjury.

The amount of alleged fraud is $1.6 million.

The team allegedly established licensed child-care centers based in homes. They solicited parents, who falsified state and federal applications for subsidized child care, prosecutors said.

While services were allegedly never provided, both sides were receiving money from the government departments, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Boyd, 48, of Redondo Beach, is expected to be arraigned Monday, as are Nikita Monique Harrell, 37, of Hawthorne, and Kevin Twain Williams, 49, of Inglewood.

A fifth suspect is Boyd’s ex-girlfriend, who authorities have not publicly identified nor arrested. The 44-year-old from Inglewood was described by prosecutors as the so-called “mastermind behind the scheme.”

She and two others who were charged have not been named because they are not in custody, Robison said.

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emily.foxhall@latimes.com