Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner is under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting one of his four children, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Donny Youngblood said during a news conference Thursday that he received a call from Dist. Atty. Cynthia Zimmer — Scrivner’s aunt — Tuesday evening, saying Scrivner was armed and appeared to be having “some sort of psychotic episode” at his Tehachapi home. Zimmer then called Youngblood back to inform him that Scrivner was no longer armed.
“We were responding to what we thought at the time was a suicidal person having a psychotic episode, not any crime,” Youngblood said.
When officers arrived on scene, they secured the firearm. They discovered that Scrivner had gotten into a physical altercation with his children and had been stabbed twice in the upper torso due to allegations that he had sexually assaulted one of his children, Youngblood said. His injuries are not life-threatening, he added.
Scrivner’s four children, who are minors, and his parents were in the home at the time of the incident, Youngblood said. His wife, Christina, who filed for divorce in March, was not present.
“The child was protecting another child from what he believed happened,” Youngblood said in describing the incident.
Detectives obtained a search warrant and seized 30 firearms, psychedelic mushrooms, electronic devices and possible evidence of a sexual assault from the home, he said.
Scrivner’s attorney, HA Sala of Bakersfield, told television news channel KGET 17 that the sexual assault allegations are not true and that Scrivner was going through a mental health crisis, distraught over his divorce. He said the altercation happened after his child tried to disarm him.
“We have a reasonable basis to believe and conclude that this allegation is completely unreliable,” Sala said. “That’s not true. That didn’t happen.
Youngblood said an emergency protective order prohibits Scrivner from any contact with his children. He declined to reveal their ages and whether the victim was one of Scrivner’s daughters or sons.
Youngblood said the investigation would be a “long process.”
“It should be noted that this investigation is ongoing and is not close to being completed,” he said. “We still have interviews to conduct, forensic evaluations to do.”
Scrivner was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2010, serving as chairman in 2012, 2017 and 2022. Prior to serving on the board, he spent six years on the Bakersfield City Council.
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