Former Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner has been charged with child abuse 10 months after being accused of sexually assaulting one of his children.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday that the charges have been filed against Scrivner in Kern County Superior Court.
The big picture: The California Department of Justice has charged Scrivner with three felony counts of child abuse and two felony counts of possessing assault weapons.
The backstory: Last April, Kern County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call at Scrivner’s house in Tehachapi as the former supervisor was having a psychotic episode.
- Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said at the time that Scrivner was stabbed in the upper torso by one of his four children, who was trying to protect another child from being sexually assaulted by Scrivner.
- Detectives seized around 30 firearms and a small quantity of psychedelic mushrooms from Scrivner’s house.
- Scrivner went on to take a medical leave of absence from the board and ultimately resigned last August.
- Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office conducted the investigation into Scrivner because Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer is Scrivner’s aunt.
Zoom in: The complaint filed by the state accuses Scrivner of getting into bed with one of his children and touching the child inappropriately.
- That happened after Scrivner consumed mind altering drugs.
- The charges also accuse Scrivner of introducing a firearm to the situation. One of his children attempted to gain control of the firearm to prevent Scrivner from self-harm. The altercation seriously aggravated an existing injury to one of his children.
- The two firearms charges are for an AK-47 style rifle and an AR-15 style rifle that Scrivner possessed.
What he’s saying: “No one is above the law,” Bonta said in a statement. “At the California Department of Justice, we will continue to fight for the people of California and hold those who break the law accountable.”
