“Preferences error. Could not load Security & Privacy pane”

when I click on system preferences and click on security & privacy, I get an error message saying:

“Preferences error. Could not load Security & Privacy pane”

I have searched other posts, and I have tried booting into safe mode, using multiple admin accounts, as well as restoring my preferences folder from a backup from before error occurred, all to no avail. I checked the console and got this message when I try to open the security pane:

### _currentPrefPaneInstance.mainView is NOT NSView com.apple.preference.security

this issue started after I downloaded a security update. I manually tested and all other panes in system preferences are working. I am running Sierra 10.12.6