UPDATED: State DOJ charges Scrivner with 3 felony counts of child endangerment, 2 firearm counts
The state Department of Justice filed felony charges Friday afternoon accusing former Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner of three counts of child endangerment and two counts of illegal possession of an assault rifle, capping a nearly 10-month investigation into one of the county's most senior politicians.
A four-page complaint in Kern County Superior Court says Scrivner got into bed with and inappropriately touched a child while under the influence of mood-altering drugs. It says he hurt two minors during a struggle to prevent him from harming himself with a firearm and that he was found to be in possession of an AK-47 style rifle and an AR-15 style rifle.
Scrivner faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
'No one is above the law,' Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. 'At the California Department of Justice, we will continue to fight for the people of California and hold those who break the law accountable.' His office did not respond Friday to a series of questions about the case.
At Scrivner's mid-afternoon arrangement, the defendant stood clean-shaven in a suit and tie as he entered a plea of not guilty to all charges. Soon after, Bakersfield defense attorney H.A. Sala spoke on his client's behalf, saying they look forward to seeing the state's evidence come out.
"We firmly believe after that he will be exonerated," Sala told reporters outside the downtown courthouse. Later, addressing a question about more than two dozen firearms in Scrivner's possession, he said, "This is Kern County. Probably everyone in Kern County has 30 to 50 firearms."
Word that Scrivner faces criminal charges represents a reversal of fortune that seemed almost unimaginable a year ago. He was less than halfway into his fourth term as a county supervisor, having been first elected to the board in 2010 after serving as a Bakersfield city councilman for six years. Before that, Scrivner worked on the staff of former state Sen. Jean Fuller, and before that, was a field representative for then-Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy.
Additionally, he is, or was, the patriarch of a politically powerful Republican dynasty: Scrivner's wife and his mother have served on various boards around Kern and his aunt, Cynthia Zimmer, is the county's district attorney.
Scrivner's pre-preliminary hearing was set for the morning of May 1. He was released on his own recognizance on condition that he avoid alcohol and drugs and stay away from any firearms or dangerous weapons. He was ordered to have no contact with his children and wife and stay at least 100 yards away from their homes, places of work and vehicles.
Sala asked court Commissioner Sally Ackerknecht earlier that the court seal all discovery matter filed with the court for the case. She granted the request. Sala later told reporters he asked that the records be sealed so that the trial can play out in court, not in the news media.
Notably, the state's complaint repeatedly uses the words "child abuse," but the penal code it references regards child endangerment, with no mention of the word abuse. The Kern County Superior Court website uses the phrase "willful cruelty to child" in reference to those three charges. Sala said the terms could be interchangeable.
The charges largely match accusations Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood described two days after the alleged event during a news conference at his headquarters in Oildale. The sheriff said at the time that the children involved were Scrivner's own.
On Friday, Youngblood said he had not read the complaint and had no comment.
Scrivner's wife of 18 years, Christina, said in a statement she was encouraged that the charges are a step toward safety and justice for her children. She remains focused on her children and their needs, she added.
"My children and I will continue to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies and remain confident that the truth will be revealed as the facts in this case navigate our justice system," she stated.
All three counts related to alleged child endangerment say Scrivner's actions took place under conditions likely to produce great bodily harm and death. In the case mentioning alleged sexual activity, but not specifically sexual abuse, he is accused of causing the child to suffer "unjustifiable physical pain and mental suffering."
In one of the two counts of child endangerment relating to the alleged struggle to gain control of a firearm, the complaint said one of the children seriously aggravated an unidentified existing injury. The minors' identities were redacted.
The charges provide at least a partial answer to a question troubling many county residents who have wondered for more than nine months what would become of Scrivner following an extraordinary series of events in April of last year.
On April 24, Kern County Sheriff's deputies were seen removing boxes, bags and ammunition cans from Scrivner's family home in Tehachapi. That set off rumors and speculation that prompted the County Administrative Office to inform employees the same day that work on the case continued and no information was being released to the public.
As Youngblood explained a day later at his news conference along Norris Road, the incident began the night before the raid, on April 23, a Tuesday. That's when he said Zimmer called the sheriff in an "emotional and worried" state asking him to send deputies to the Scrivner family home.
In normal circumstances, that kind of work would have been left to the Tehachapi Police Department. Youngblood later said his department was more appropriate to handle the incident because it had greater resources to respond to it.
The sheriff told reporters Zimmer had called him saying Scrivner was armed and having a psychotic episode. Later Zimmer called back, Youngblood said, to inform him her nephew had been disarmed but that he was still "having an episode."
Zimmer did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Youngblood said there was reason to believe Scrivner had sexually assaulted one of his children, prompting another of the four of them to stab him twice in the torso. Deputies found Scrivner "armed and suicidal," he said, before they disarmed him and began an investigation.
About 30 firearms were seized from Scrivner's home, along with electronics and a small amount of psychedelic mushrooms, Youngblood noted.
The sheriff said Scrivner was taken to Kern Medical for treatment of his stab wounds. Youngblood promised a "proper" investigation that would deliver "definitive answers." At that time, Scrivner had not been booked into jail and there was no word on his whereabouts. Youngblood said he thought he knew where the supervisor was but that he was unsure.
Youngblood said because of Scrivner's relation to Zimmer, and the conflict that would create, the state Attorney General's Office and the Tulare County Sheriff's Office had been contacted about taking over the investigation and possibly filing criminal charges. (On May 2 the state Attorney General's Office said it had agreed to review whether to file criminal charges against Scrivner.)
Immediately following Youngblood's news conference, Sala hosted a news conference at his offices along H Street in Bakersfield. Sala told reporters there was no corroborated evidence of any assault, only that the supervisor was so distraught over his pending divorce case that one of his children stabbed him during a struggle to keep him from killing himself.
Sala accused Youngblood of publicizing accusations without conducting a full investigation. He said Scrivner, having been a public servant for so long, "deserves better" and asked the public to "walk it back a little bit and keep an open mind and not jump to conclusions and assumptions about what happened."
But some members of the public did anyway. With Scrivner absent from the Board of Supervisors, a range of speakers during the board's May 7 public comment period called for his resignation. The next day, Sala announced Scrivner was away from his job as supervisor on a medical leave of absence.
Not until Aug. 1 did Scrivner formally resign from the board. More than four months later, following an election that drew half a dozen candidates, former Bakersfield City Councilman Chris Parlier was sworn in to represent the county's District 2 on the county Board of Supervisors.
Meanwhile, as Scrivner's divorce case proceeded in Kern County Superior Court, Christina Scrivner was granted sole custody of their children, as well as a temporary restraining order for them and herself. Since then, Scrivner has argued he cannot pay any child support.
At the next hearing in the divorce case, set for March 10, unnamed witnesses to the events at the Scrivner home on April 23 — including minors — are scheduled to testify with regard to the restraining order against the former supervisor. Lawyers on both sides of the divorce case could not be reached for comment Friday.
Much of what is known about Scrivner's life since the night of the alleged incident has come to light through the divorce proceedings. He said in a court declaration that he is a full-time student at Cal State Bakersfield pursuing a master's degree. It said Scrivner was expected to start his final semester in January.
Supervisor Parlier called the situation involving Scrivner "horrible and tragic and the justice system's going to have to play out." He said Friday he was happy to be representing District 2 and that its residents "are really excited to have representation again."
Chairman Clayton Campbell of the Kern County Republican Central Committee said Scrivner is not currently affiliated with the party and "we want to see the process run its course."
Campbell, a Bakersfield criminal defense attorney, said the lesson to take from the filing of charges is that "no matter what … your political clout is, the criminal process still applies to you."
"He is entitled to (a system of justice) that applies to everybody, and that includes being held accountable if you commit a crime as well as the presumption of innocence if you've been accused," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're on the Board of Supes."
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