California Attorney General Rob Bonta is having his office review the allegations made against Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner.
Bonta’s office told the Bakersfield Californian that it will review whether to file criminal charges because of a potential conflict of interest with the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.
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The backstory: Last week Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Scrivner is under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting one of his children.
- According to Youngblood, one of Scrivner’s sons stabbed him twice in the upper torso to protect a sibling from the alleged sexual assault.
- Detectives seized around 30 firearms from Scrivner’s house in Tehachapi and took forensic evidence for examination.
- Youngblood said detectives also seized electronics and a small quantity of psychedelic mushrooms.
- Scrivener’s attorney H.A. Sala refuted all allegations last week, saying the stabbing occurred to prevent Scrivner from killing himself with a gun.
- Sala said Scrivner was distraught over the pending divorce with his wife, Christina Scrivner. She filed for divorce in March, according to court documents.
The big picture: With Scrivner being the nephew of Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer, Bonta’s office has decided to step in because of the potential conflict of interest.
- The District Attorney’s Office will not have a say in the matter at this point with the Attorney General’s Office taking charge.
- Bonta’s office could decide to press charges after reviewing the evidence or turn it over to another county’s district attorney’s office. Last week Youngblood said his department contacted Bonta and the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office about reviewing the evidence.
