California’s Catastrophic Parole System: Serial Child Predator Walks Free After 25 Years While Governor Dodges Responsibility

A serial child molester who terrorized toddlers as young as three years old is about to walk out of prison decades early—and California’s liberal parole system bears full responsibility.

David Funston, 64, earned three consecutive life sentences in 1999 for kidnapping and molesting children in a crime spree that spanned two years. A judge called him “the monster parents fear the most.” Yet under California’s reckless “Elderly Parole Program,” this predator will soon be released back into communities where families are rightfully terrified.

This isn’t just bureaucratic failure. It’s a deliberate policy choice.

The Newsom Administration’s Shell Game

Governor Gavin Newsom’s office rushed to social media crying “MAGA MISINFORMATION” when critics connected the dots to his administration. The governor’s press team insists the parole board operates as an “independent agency” and claims Newsom lacks authority to reverse the decision.

That defense is insulting to anyone paying attention.

Former Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert—the legendary prosecutor who put Funston behind bars and later identified the Golden State Killer—demolished Newsom’s excuses with surgical precision. She exposed a simple truth: Newsom signed the very law that made early release possible at age 50. More damning still, he personally appointed the board members who deemed this child predator “suitable” for release.

“What a joke,” Schubert wrote, noting that Funston “earned his 3 life terms” through unspeakable acts against children. “No rational human being would think releasing him is a good idea. Yet…Newsom’s parole board did. Let that sink in.”

How California Turned Three Life Sentences Into 25 Years

The mechanics of this travesty reveal everything wrong with California’s criminal justice priorities.

Funston was convicted on 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation stemming from crimes committed in 1995 and 1996. His victims included children barely out of diapers. The original sentence—three consecutive life terms—was designed to ensure he would never again threaten innocent children.

But California’s “Elderly Parole Program” rewrote that promise. Under current law, inmates become parole-eligible after turning 50 and serving just 20 years. Before 2021, the threshold was 60 years of age and 25 years served—still unconscionable for violent predators, but at least marginally more protective of public safety.

Newsom’s 2021 expansion made early release even easier.

Law Enforcement Sounds the Alarm

Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper, 62 years old himself, minced no words about the absurdity of releasing elderly sex offenders based solely on age.

The sheriff called the law “dead wrong,” especially for predators who brutalized toddlers. Cooper emphasized that Sacramento already struggles with a substantial population of registered sex offenders living among families and children. Releasing more violent criminals early only compounds the danger.

This case exemplifies a disturbing pattern across California. Propositions 47 and 57 weakened penalties and expanded parole eligibility for numerous offenses. Critics correctly identify these measures as part of a systematic erosion of public safety—prioritizing criminal comfort over community protection.

Law enforcement officials aren’t buying the governor’s claims of helplessness. They recognize that expanding eligibility for early release programs represents a conscious policy choice, one that creates additional pathways for violent offenders to return to the streets while victims live with permanent trauma.

The Accountability Question

Newsom wants credit for requesting a “re-review” while avoiding blame for the outcome. That’s political theater, not leadership.

The governor created the framework that made this release possible. He signed the legislation. He appointed the board members. He expanded eligibility criteria that transformed life sentences into temporary inconveniences for child predators.

Now he claims his hands are tied by “independent” decision-makers operating under laws he championed and officials he selected.

Californians deserve better than semantic gymnastics when monsters walk free.

The Victims Still Suffering

Lost in the bureaucratic finger-pointing are real children whose lives were shattered by Funston’s crimes three decades ago. They’ve carried that trauma every day while their attacker sat in prison. They had every reason to believe justice meant he would never again threaten other children.

California’s parole system has betrayed them.

The state essentially declared that after 25 years, even the most heinous crimes against the most vulnerable victims can be forgiven in the name of criminal justice reform. That’s not compassion—it’s moral cowardice dressed up as progressive policy.

What This Means for Public Safety

Sacramento’s law enforcement community faces the consequences of Sacramento’s progressive experiment. More registered sex offenders in communities mean more resources diverted to monitoring, more families living in fear, and more opportunities for recidivism.

Studies consistently show that child sex offenders have among the highest recidivism rates of any criminal category. Age doesn’t eliminate that danger—it just makes predators slower and potentially harder to detect.

The “Elderly Parole Program” rests on the flawed assumption that turning 50 or 60 somehow transforms violent criminals into safe community members. Real-world evidence suggests otherwise.

The Broader California Catastrophe

Funston’s release isn’t an isolated incident. It’s the predictable result of California’s decade-long commitment to criminal justice policies that prioritize offender rights over victim protection.

Proposition 47 reclassified numerous felonies as misdemeanors, leading to exploding retail theft and quality-of-life crime. Proposition 57 expanded parole opportunities for violent offenders. The “Elderly Parole Program” creates age-based loopholes in sentences specifically designed to prevent release.

Each reform was sold as compassionate, sensible, and overdue. Each has contributed to California’s declining public safety and skyrocketing costs for communities forced to manage the consequences.

The Political Calculation

Newsom’s deflection strategy reveals the administration’s political vulnerability on public safety. Rather than defend the parole decision on its merits, the governor’s office immediately attacked critics as spreaders of “MAGA MISINFORMATION.”

That response speaks volumes. When your best argument against releasing child molesters is calling critics partisan, you’ve already lost the substantive debate.

Schubert and Cooper aren’t partisan bomb-throwers. They’re experienced law enforcement professionals who devoted careers to protecting communities. Their criticism deserves serious engagement, not dismissive name-calling.

What Must Change

California needs immediate reforms to prevent similar outrages. Life sentences should mean life—especially for predators who target children. The “Elderly Parole Program” should exclude violent offenders and crimes against minors categorically.

The parole board needs members who prioritize public safety over progressive credentials. Governors should appoint decision-makers who understand that some criminals have permanently forfeited their right to freedom.

Victims deserve a justice system that keeps its promises. Communities deserve protection from known dangers. Children deserve a state government that values their safety above political ideology.

None of that exists in California today.

The release of David Funston proves the system is broken beyond repair through minor adjustments. Fundamental change requires leadership willing to acknowledge failure and reverse course—qualities conspicuously absent from Sacramento’s current administration.

Until that changes, more monsters will walk free while governors hide behind bureaucratic complexity and blame conservative critics for noticing.