California lawmakers are blasting an “Epstein loophole” that allowed a Kern County politician charged with felony baby abuse to dodge jail time by getting into a mental-health diversion program.
Zack Scrivner, a former Kern County supervisor, was charged in February 2025 with baby abuse and possession of assault weapons — however prevented a toddler sexual-assault cost accusations he was below the affect of medicine when he climbed into mattress with a toddler and touched the child “inappropriately.”
Critics of the 2018 diversion program regulation mentioned it’s getting used as a get-out-of-jail free card by critical offenders.
“I specialise in household and dependancy medication, so I do know the worth of psychological well being diversion,” Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains mentioned in an announcement to the LA Occasions.
“It was designed to assist folks get therapy and rehabilitation in acceptable circumstances, to not present an escape hatch to sexually assault kids,” Bains added. “This Epstein loophole must be closed.”
Scrivner has deep political ties and is the nephew of Kern County District Legal professional Cynthia Zimmer, who alerted authorities to his alleged crimes and recused herself from the case.
Amongst these outraged by the result of Scrivner’s case is Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood — who had acquired a name from the DA on April 23, 2024, saying her nephew was armed and having “some kind of psychotic episode” at his dwelling, based on the Occasions.
Police arrived at Scrivner’s dwelling to search out him stabbed within the torso by considered one of his kids after allegedly sexually assaulting his different baby, Youngblood mentioned at a information convention.
Scrivner’s 4 minor kids had been inside the house, whereas his spouse — who had filed for divorce –was out. Cops later discovered 30 firearms, psychedelic mushrooms, digital gadgets and potential proof of sexual assault inside the house, based on the LA Occasions.
But Scrivner wasn’t instantly arrested — and Youngblood later claimed there was nobody obtainable to arraign the supervisor. The case was finally turned over to Legal professional Normal Rob Bonta after Zimmer’s recusal.
Youngblood has since mentioned the AG’s workplace botched the case by omitting a intercourse crime cost.
“I can solely communicate for the sheriff’s workplace, and I can inform you that the deputies that investigated that did completely the appropriate factor,” Youngblood mentioned in a radio interview, based on the Occasions. “I imagine that the youngsters had been all on board and would have accomplished precisely what the court docket requested them to do, and that’s, inform the reality. So from my standpoint, this stinks.”
The case total has put a highlight on the effectiveness of psychological well being diversion applications as an entire.
“Individuals are changing into very skeptical of psychological well being therapy as a result of it’s being utilized in methods no person ever supposed,” Matthew Greco, deputy district legal professional of San Diego County and writer of the California Felony Psychological Well being Handbook, advised the LA Occasions.
“We all know the central premise behind psychological well being diversion is that if we get hold of psychological well being therapy for these which can be mentally sick which can be committing crimes, the general public will probably be safer,” he mentioned. “However we have to have each public security and therapy.”
