A Kern County supervisor under investigation for allegedly sexually abusing one of her children has resigned.
Thursday’s message by Supervisor Zack Scrivner came as California’s attorney general’s office reviews a criminal case against Scrivner, who has avoided public appearances since the charges were filed in April.
In a letter to Kern County Supervisor Chairman David Couch, Scrivner made no mention of the allegations or the looming criminal investigation. Instead, Scrivner said he resigned due to “significant health and medical reasons.”
His resignation took effect on Friday.
“Serving the people of Kern County since 2011 has been the honor of my life,” read the letter obtained by The Times.
Scrivner began his political career as a member of the Bakersfield City Council. He was elected to the county’s board of trustees in 2011, where he was chairman in 2012, 2017 and 2022.
But on April 25, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said deputies had been called to Scrivner’s home that week after receiving a call that the county supervisor was armed and having “some type of psychotic episode.”
The call, Youngblood said, came from Kern County Dist. Atty. Cynthia Zimmer, who is also Scrivner’s aunt.
When deputies arrived, Scrivner was found to have been stabbed twice by one of her children, allegedly protecting one of their siblings, Youngblood said during the press conference.
In their investigation, deputies heard allegations that Scrivner had sexually assaulted one of his minor children. All of Scrivner’s four minor children were home at the time, but Youngblood declined to release the ages of the children, or who was involved in the incident.
Scrivner’s wife, who had filed for divorce in March, was not home.
Scrivner’s lawyer, HA Sala, told KGET 17 at the time that the allegations were false and that Scrivner was going through a mental crisis at the time. He said the stabbing happened when one of his children tried to disarm him.
Sala did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Friday, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a criminal complaint has been filed with the California Attorney General’s office.
A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said the case is still under review.