Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner is under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting one of his four children.
Kern County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday they seized evidence from Scrivner’s house in Tehachapi.
Driving the news: Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said at a press conference Thursday that District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer called him around 11 p.m. on Tuesday saying that Scrivner was having a psychotic episode at his house. Scrivner is Zimmer’s nephew.
- “She called me – it seems like it was about 11 o’clock – and was pretty emotional, pretty worried,” Youngblood said. “And I took the call, immediately called the comms center and got deputies en route. We were responding to what we believed at the time was a suicidal person having a psychotic episode, not any crime.”
- Zimmer told Youngblood that Scrivner was armed with a gun and later called him to say Scrivner had been disarmed.
The big picture: Deputies secured the firearm on the scene and started the investigation, learning that Scrivner had a physical altercation with his children.
- Youngblood confirmed that one of Scrivner’s sons stabbed him twice in the upper torso.
- “The physical altercation occurred over allegations Zack had sexually assaulted one of his children,” Youngblood said.
- Scrivner has four children – two boys and two girls – and they are all under the age of 18.
- The child that stabbed Scrivner was not arrested, and Youngblood declined to say if the child that was allegedly sexually assaulted was a boy or a girl.
- “The child was protecting the other child from what he believed occurred.”
- Detectives obtained search warrants for the house and looked for evidence of the stabbing and sexual assault. Detectives seized approximately 30 firearms and possible evidence of the stabbing and sexual assault, taking forensic evidence for examination.
- Detectives seized electronics from the house and found a small quantity of psychedelic mushrooms.
Go deeper: Scrivner’s parents and all four children were at the house on Tuesday night.
- His wife, Christina Scrivner, was not present. Court documents show that she filed for divorce in March.
- Scrivner was taken to Kern Medical Center and was treated for his wounds before being released.
- Youngblood did not comment on if Scrivner was held at Kern Medical Center on a 5150 psychiatric hold due to HIPPA law.
- The children are currently with their mother, and Youngblood said there is an emergency protective order to keep Scrivner away from them.
- Youngblood said he did not know where Scrivner was on Thursday.
What we’re watching: Because Zimmer and Scrivner are related, Youngblood said the sheriff’s office has contacted the California Attorney General’s Office and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.
- One of those offices will review the evidence in the case once the Kern County Sheriff’s Office completes its investigation.
- “It should be noted that this investigation is ongoing and not near completed,” Youngblood said. “We still have interviews to conduct. We still have forensic evaluations to make, and this could be a lengthy process because it’s not going to be submitted to our crime lab here or our district attorney here. It’s going to go outside the county, so this may take us a little bit longer to come to a conclusion.
Scrivner’s lawyer speaks: Following Youngblood’s press conference, Scrivner’s lawyer H.A. Sala addressed the media and refuted the allegations, saying Youngblood should have vetted the investigation before talking to the press.
- “We have a reasonable basis to believe and conclude that that allegation is absolutely not reliable,” Sala said. “It’s not true. It did not occur. We also have a reasonable basis to conclude that there was no corroboration – there was no corroborative evidence seized from Mr. Scrivner’s home. We also have a reasonable basis to conclude that the so-called altercation that occurred at the residence involved an incident that concerned a disarming of Mr. Scrivner. As the sheriff indicated there was a report that he may have been suicidal. The so-called altercation did not involve Mr. Scrivner brandishing a weapon, pointing a weapon, trying to assault anyone. There was an attempt to take the firearm from Mr. Scrivner so that he would not use it against himself. That’s the basis of the evidence – did not involve anything more than that.”
- Sala said Scrivner was distraught over his pending divorce and was suicidal. According to Sala, Scrivner’s son stabbed him in an attempt to disarm him.
- “Mr. Scrivner is a absolutely dedicated father,” Sala said. “He loves his children. He would never do anything to harm his children. He cares for them, feeds them, clothes them. He’s absolutely committed to his children. He loves his children. And I can tell you this, he’s very distraught that they’re going through this.”
- Scrivner continued, “We’re asking that people keep an open mind right now and not rush to judgment, not make conclusions or assumptions. And this is why what happened this afternoon concerning the press conference is so disturbing.”
