Cecilia Edith Warren, executive director at Creative Child Care Inc., in Stockton was arrested on suspicion of embezzling $487,000 from the organization. (San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office via Bay City News)

A San Joaquin County woman has been arrested for allegedly embezzling funds from a Head Start program she ran, the Sheriff’s Office said.

An investigation was opened into Cecilia Edith Warren, executive director at Creative Child Care Inc., in September 2024. The organization had revenues over $12 million in 2024 and has three locations in Stockton.

In 2024, Warren received a salary of $108,000, according to public documents. Detectives now allege Warren embezzled about $487,000 between January 2023 and September 2024, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Warren was arrested Oct. 22 and booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of grand theft and embezzlement. As of Sunday, she was no longer in custody.

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Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.