Assemblywoman Dr. Jasmeet Bains, D-Delano, introduced a trio of bills that she said are aimed at holding sexual predators accountable.
In a news release, Bains dubbed her bills the “Lords of Bakersfield” package — a reference to an alleged sexual abuse ring that operated in Bakersfield in the 1970s and ’80s — and said the bills are aimed at addressing systemic failures highlighted by recent cases, namely those of Jeffery Epstein and former Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner.
It’s not the first-time Bains, who is running for Congress, has linked Scrivner to the late financier. One of her bills is called the Epstein Loophole Act.
That bill would prohibit prosecutors from offering non-prosecution agreements that shield co-conspirators, a reference to a plea bargain Epstein was able to make in Florida in 2008.
Scrivner is accused of inappropriately touching one of his children at his Tehachapi home in April 2024 while high on drugs — an accusation his attorney has repeatedly stated can’t be proved — and in December was granted a mental health diversion program. Charges filed against Scrivner by the state Attorney General’s Office did not include a sexual crime.
Diversions allow defendants to remain out of jail or prison as long as they enroll in and comply with the terms of a mental health treatment program. Upon successful completion of the program, charges may be dropped.
A Kern County Superior Court judge’s decision to grant Scrivner a diversion program prompted local outrage, and several local lawmakers, Bains included, vowed to introduce legislation addressing what they said was abuse of mental health programs.
One of the bills Bains introduced Thursday was named specifically for the former supervisor.
The “Sexual Contact and Rape Investigation, Victims’ New Enforcement Rights” Act would make several changes to current laws, which Bains said would have prevented a diversion being granted in Scrivner’s case.
Among other changes, the bill would remove the current requirement that prosecutors demonstrate intent when charging a suspect with child sexual abuse if the suspect willingly took a mind-altering substance.
It would also require that, once an investigation into an elected official for child sex crimes is complete and “deemed appropriate for prosecution,” formal charges be filed within 30 days.
That bill would also prevent a person from being granted a diversion based on the underlying facts of the case, not just the criminal charges filed.
According to the text of the bill, a defendant would be ineligible for a diversion program when “the facts alleged in the accusatory pleading or disclosed in the preliminary hearing transcript, police reports or other evidence would constitute any of the offenses enumerated.”
Lastly, the Mental Health Diversion Reform Act — co-sponsored by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman — makes further changes to diversion program requirements Bains said protect the intent of the program while preventing it from being used as a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
It would prohibit courts from granting diversion solely based on a diagnosis, explicitly bar defendants from diversion if they are charged with violent or serious felonies including domestic violence, and extend the authority of a court to order a defendant to relinquish firearms and ammunition, along with ordering financial restitution to victims for anyone granted a diversion program.
“For too long, the wealthy, the politically connected and the powerful have played by a completely different set of rules in our justice system,” Bains said in a statement. “We are watching mental health diversion be weaponized to shield abusers, while loopholes protect the accomplices of monsters like Jeffrey Epstein.”
If Scrivner successfully completes the mental health diversion program, the charges against him — three counts of felony child endangerment and two felony firearms counts — could be dropped.
The Attorney General’s Office on Tuesday filed a petition with the Fifth District Court of Appeal challenging the diversion in Scrivner’s case, though not regarding the charges of child endangerment. That petition is currently awaiting a judge’s decision.