How California’s ‘monster’ child abuser got parole, sparks outrage and calls for action

Outrage over the parole granted to a convicted child molester who drugged children with candy has renewed calls to reform California’s parole system for the elderly, where violent offenders and sex offenders in their 50s cannot be released.

On Sunday, The Times reported that David Allen Funston – who was convicted of 16 counts of kidnapping and child abuse in 1999 – had been granted parole at the age of 64.

He was described by the judge at his sentencing hearing as “monsters parents are very afraid of.”

On Monday, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper held a news conference criticizing the Board of Parole Hearings’ decision as “dead is wrong.”

“He abused these children in a horrible way. He stole their friendship,” Cooper said. “A person who does these things, does not deserve a second chance in life.”

Spokesman for Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that the governor disagreed with the pardon decision and asked the board to reconsider it. The governor has no authority to overturn the decision.

Funston’s lawyer, Maya Emig, said there is no precedent for the board to review this case as it was approved by the panel in September and then reviewed and approved again by the full board on February 18.

“The matter has been made about the board,” he said.

Lawmakers are pushing for adult parole for sex offenders

Some state lawmakers cite Funston’s case as evidence that California’s Elder Parole system needs urgent reform.

“This gentleman committed a heinous crime,” said Sen. Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), who represents the area where the Funston attack took place. On Friday, Niello introduced Senate bill 1278, which would remove sex crimes from consideration in the adult parole system.

“That type of offender does not deserve to be released from prison,” he said.

State Assemblywoman Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento) said she is preparing to introduce a bill that would require offenders like Funston to be transferred to California’s sex offender program before they can be eligible for parole. Under the program, parole-eligible offenders can be committed to a state hospital if they have a mental disorder that makes them more likely to engage in sexually violent criminal behavior.

Funston was sentenced in 1999 to three consecutive terms of 25 years to life in prison and one term of 20 years and eight months. When the Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) program was created, the expectation was that offenders like Funston would not be eligible for parole, Krell explained.

“Now that we have new laws such as the parole law for the elderly,” he said, “we need to expand the way to issue the SVP sentence.”

How a serial rapist was granted parole

Under California’s adult parole program, inmates are generally eligible for a parole hearing if they are over 50 and have served at least 20 consecutive years in prison. An inmate can then be released if the parole board determines that they do not pose a risk to public safety.

Board commissioners said they don’t believe Funston posed a greater risk because of the extensive self-help work, therapy and sex offender treatment classes he completed; his detailed plan to avoid repeating his crimes; he expressed no remorse; and his record of good behavior in prison, according to a transcript of the Sept. 24 hearing.

“You have a good understanding of the connection between past mistakes and the choices you made that led to the crime and ultimately the guilty plea,” the commissioner told Funston. “You have acquired enough skills to deal with these problems and tools to solve problems to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.”

Commissioners noted that Funston grew up in a dysfunctional home environment with physical and verbal abuse and was sexually abused by her half-sister as a child.

During the trial, Funston called himself a “self-centered coward” for abusing young children, saying, “I am disgusted and ashamed of my behavior and deeply regret the harm I did to my victims, their families in the Sacramento community. I am truly sorry.”

He admitted that he ruined the lives of his young victims and that pedophilia is a condition he will have to deal with for the rest of his life. “I know that and that’s why I’m working hard to control my behavior and make a plan to control my desires,” he told the commissioners.

The Times spoke to two of his female victims, who are against his release and fear he may repeat his crimes.

“That man did horrible things, not only to me, but to other people as well,” said a woman who was kidnapped and beaten by Funston when she was 4 years old.

Funston used a Barbie doll to get the victim into his car and take her to a residence where he bathed her and then held a knife to her throat in bed, prosecutors said. He entered her with a machine, bleeding, and threatened to kill her if she told her family.

California’s adult parole program is among the nation’s most vulnerable

California’s adult parole program stems from a federal court decision aimed at reducing prison overcrowding and is based in part on research showing that the risk of recidivism decreases with age. It became state law in 2018, granting parole eligibility hearings to inmates who are 60 or older and have served at least 25 years.

Preliminary data showed that the program was effective in reducing recidivism. Of the 221 people granted parole in the 2019-20 fiscal year, only four were convicted of any crime within three years.

In 2021, a new law went into effect that exempted criminals aged 50 or over who had served at least 20 years.

California’s adult parole system does not release murderers or sex offenders. It does not include offenders sentenced to death or life without the possibility of parole and first-time offenders of murdering a peace officer.

Funston’s case is not the only one that has caused outrage among victims.

Mary Johnson campaigned to change the system after her rapist, Cody Klemp, was granted parole for 27 years of his 170-year sentence. Jennifer Carvalho is also fighting to prevent rapist Thomas Martinez Carvalho, 54, from being released at a parole hearing next year, according to a KCRA report.

Johnson’s case was part of the push for SB 286, which was proposed last year and would have made violent offenders eligible for parole. Although the bill passed the Senate Public Safety Committee, it failed to advance.

That law that has been suspended now serves as an incentive for Sen. Niello recently introduced SB 1278. Niello said he hopes the public outrage caused by the Funston case will increase the chances of the bill being passed this year.

“I think we’ve gone too far in allowing tolerance and trying to be compassionate,” he said, “and sometimes maybe we forget what the victims went through.”