The family of former Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner publicly called for reforming the mental health diversion program.
Christina Scriner, who has filed for divorce from Zack Scrivner, appeared with one of her sons on Tuesday to support a bill being proposed by Sen. Shannon Grove (R–Bakersfield).
Driving the news: Last December a Kern County Superior Court judge granted Zack Scrivner’s request for a mental health diversion.
- He had been arrested in April 2024 and later charged by state prosecutors with child abuse and possessing assault weapons. Prosecutors alleged that he got into bed with one of his children and touched the child inappropriately.
- The mental health diversion gives Zack Scrivner the opportunity to enter a treatment program. All charges will be dropped if he completes the program.
- The California Department of Justice appealed the decision earlier this month.
The big picture: Grove is proposing Senate Bill 1373 to prevent people who have committed violent crimes from being eligible for diversion programs.
- SB 1373 expands the list of crimes that prohibit a defendant from being placed in a diversion program to include attempted murder, kidnapping, carjacking, human trafficking, child abuse and endangerment, assaults of a child under eight years of age resulting in the death of the child, inflicting cruel or inhuman corporal punishment on a child result in an injury and other crimes. .
- The bill would also prohibit a defendant who has two prior felonies or a prior offense under the Three Strikes provisions from being granted a diversion.
What they’re saying: Christina Scrivner and her son, Robert Scrivner, spoke out against Zack Scrivner on Tuesday during a press conference in Sacramento, hosted by Grove.
- “We tell our children to speak up, speak up for yourselves, tell the truth, be honest, and my children were and they did,” Christina Scrivner said. “Their answer to their plea, their cry for help was a stark reality of a broken system under mental health diversion. Tragically, shockingly and unbelievably, my children’s cooperation with the system led only to their own personal exposure and vulnerability, with zero consequences for their violent abuser.”
- Robert Scrivner said, “My own father, who’s an elected official in Kern County, assaulted my siblings and myself and was granted a mental health diversion. Our case was a clear example of our flawed system. Because of my own experience, I feel compelled to speak out – not just my own hardships, but to protect present and future victims.”
