Child predator cleared for parole in California, sparks outrage from sheriff and victims
David Allen Funston, a convicted child predator, was cleared for parole under California's elderly program, sparking outrage. Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed the decision but cannot overturn the unelected parole board's ruling.
Officials in California are demanding changes to the state's parole system after another convicted serial child sex predator was granted early release after serving just 27 years of his 355-year sentence, despite admitting to still fantasizing about boys.
Gregory Vogelsang, 57, was handed down the lengthy sentence for molesting six boys in the 1990s between the ages of 5 and 11 before being granted early release under California's elderly parole program, according to Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho.
"The parole board is at it again," Ho told reporters, referring to the panel that granted parole to another serial child sex offender late last year. "This inmate will molest again. And yet this parole board is letting him out."
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Gregory Vogelsang, 57, was granted parole by the California Parole Board, despite his history of child sex offenses. Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho spoke out against the decision on Thursday. (Sacramentio County Sheriff's Office )
In one case, Vo's office noted, a child said that Vogelsang persuaded him to get into his vehicle under the pretense of helping pick out a gift. The child was driven to a home and repeatedly assaulted despite crying and asking him to stop.
When investigators found boys’ underwear in Vogelsang’s possession, he admitted they belonged to his victims and said he kept them for sexual stimulation, authorities said.
"He is a predator, and a lot of folks don't realize that," Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper said. "You don't rehabilitate sex offenders. Mr. Vogelsang belongs in prison for the rest of his life."
Another victim spent the night at Vogelsang’s home nearly every weekend for years because he was friends with Vogelsang’s family. During the visits, the abuse occurred repeatedly over an extended period of time.
Vogelsang groomed the boys by building trust with parents before inviting the children to sleepovers, buying them gifts and taking them on outings.
During his parole hearing, Vogelsang remarks on the urge to sexually assault a child.
"You have to stop masturbating to images of child in your mind or real child pornography because that leads to molestation and molestations leads to kidnapping and the kidnapping leads ultimately to the murder of a child," he said, according to Ho.
The board's decision came despite Vogelsang having a risk assessment that was "above average" re-offending, Ho said.
He was granted parole under the state's Elderly Parole Program, which allows inmates aged 50 or older who have served at least 20 consecutive years to receive a specialized parole suitability hearing.
State Assemblyman Tom Lackey, a Republican, called the parole board's decision "outrageous." He said he and other lawmakers were introducing a bill regarding "elderly parole" to keep offenders in prison longer.
California's parole system has come under fire after commissioners granted early release to another serial child sex predator. David Allen Funston, 64, was slated to walk free last month but was taken into custody after a warrant was issued for his arrest in Placer County for a separate offense, state officials confirmed.
Funston was serving a life sentence for his 1999 conviction of the kidnapping and child molestation involving multiple victims, when he was granted parole following a Sept 2025 hearing.
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The panel approved his early release despite him admitting that he still had repeated fantasies of an eight-year-old girl who used to live across the street from him.
"My question to anybody who will cite a statistic that these individuals don't re-offend… anybody wants to stand by those statistics, my question is, would you like Mr. Vogelstein or Mr. Funston to move into the house right next to you?" Ho said. "Would you allow that individual to take care of your kids? Would you allow that individual to babysit? Would you allow that individual to give your kid a ride?"
"And if anybody who wants to cite those statistics and is willing to do that, then they probably should be charged for child endangering," he said.
The board's recent decision to grant early release to Funston generated heavy criticism of Gov. Gavin Newsom and the parole system itself.
"Once again, Gavin Newsom’s hand-picked parole board has decided that a monster who preyed on young children deserves freedom after decades behind bars," Corrin Rankin, the chairwoman of the California Republican Party, told Fox News Digital. "This insanity must stop now. Gov. Newsom needs to reverse this decision immediately, fire the commissioners who keep approving these releases, and finally put victims and public safety first."
A convicted California child molester who was granted parole and was set for release was instead turned over to law enforcement after Placer County issued a new arrest warrant and filed additional charges. David Allen Funston, 64, was originally sentenced in 1999 to life with the possibility of parole for crimes including kidnapping and lewd acts involving children under 14. (Placer County, Calif. Jail)
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The parole board commissioners, Sheriff Cooper said, are letting the public down.
"They are horrible. I will say that out front," he said. "They are horrible after this case and the Funston case. They need to be gone, period."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Newsom's office.
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