Woman Gets Probation on False Child Support Claim

A Chatsworth woman who falsely accused her ex-husband of failing to pay child support was placed on three years’ probation Tuesday and ordered to perform 500 hours of community service.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Darlene E. Schempp said she had planned to sentence Vivica M. Franzen to County Jail but was persuaded by statements from the ex-husband that Franzen should not be separated from her children.

“She’s the mother of my children. I don’t believe she should go to jail,” Steven Thomas Boyd told the judge during Monday’s sentencing hearing.

Convicted Nov. 7 of one count of perjury, Franzen, 36, faced a maximum sentence of four years in state prison. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, which has created special units to prosecute parents who renege on child support payments, said this is the first perjury case arising from a false report.

According to trial testimony, Franzen signed a sworn affidavit at the district attorney’s office, alleging that Boyd had failed to make child support payments for their two children from Sept. 17, 1983, to June 30, 1984.

Letter Opened By Co-Worker

Boyd, 39, of Newhall, testified angrily last month that the county sent a letter to his office informing him that he would be arrested unless he appeared in court to answer the misdemeanor charge. A co-worker opened the letter, embarrassing him, he said.

The charge was dismissed after Boyd presented canceled checks proving that he had paid more than $3,000 in child support during the nine-month period.

“I had felt . . . that you deserved some jail time because that’s what Mr. Boyd was facing,” Schempp told Franzen, who has a third child by another husband.

Franzen testified that she never accused Boyd of failing to make any payments during the nine months, but only accused him of missing some payments. She blamed the mix-up on a county clerk who, she asserted, misunderstood her statements and instructed her to sign a blank affidavit.

The judge said Monday, however, that neither she nor the jury believed Franzen’s explanation.

The prosecutor and a probation officer joined with Boyd in recommending community service, rather than jail. The type of community service and the schedule will be determined by Franzen’s probation officer.