Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper erupted in anger this week after it was confirmed that convicted serial child molester David Allen Funston, once described in court as “the monster parents fear most,” has been approved for parole under California’s controversial Elderly Parole Program.
Funston, 64, was convicted in 1999 of kidnapping and molesting young children in Sacramento County in the mid-1990s.
A judge at sentencing labeled him a threat to society, and he received three consecutive 25-to-life terms, plus additional time, effectively a life sentence, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
But under California’s elderly parole law, which allows inmates over age 50 who have served at least 20 years to be considered for release, Funston was deemed “suitable for parole.”
During a press conference, Sheriff Cooper blasted the parole board and Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration for allowing such a predator to be reconsidered for release under a program that is sick and broken.
Sheriff Jim Cooper: “I got a phone call from a retired Sheriff Sergeant who used to work child abuse back in 1995 about this case: David Allen Funston. He helped investigate it.
He was angry because he read he was being released. I had no idea about it; read the LA Times article, saw where they had spoken, and got the wheels rolling.
So yesterday, they printed out probably thousands of pages: arrest reports on Mr. Funson and the cases he did. And take us back to 1995: he, out preying on children in the Sacramento area.
We’re talking children as young as three to the age of seven, molesting them. One young girl in North Highland—kidnapped her, molested her very viciously, drove her to Placerville, and kicked her out of the car after punching her. Think about that.
He was caught eventually through the hard work of a Sheriff’s office—did a great job investigating it. Thousands of pages of interviews of children. And one thing about these kids: they were resilient.
They did an amazing job IDing him. And back then, as a parent or anyone around kids: ‘Hey, don’t take candy from strangers. Don’t follow anyone. Don’t get in someone’s car.’
“This is what he did. Look: loaded him with candy, Barbie dolls, toys, and abused these kids horrifically. He was given three consecutive terms—20-year terms.
He should have been in prison the rest of his life. Unfortunately, in 2020, a bill was passed that made folks eligible for parole as early as 50 years of age once they serve 20 years. So, he qualifies. He’s 64 years old; I’m 62. That is dead wrong.
These children—he ruined their lives, and now he’s eligible. And the damage he’s done? He stole their childhoods. And my issue is the parole board. I read the reports; they’re horrific.
You’ve seen some of the things he did. There’s no explanation. You can’t explain it away. There are some folks that deserve a second chance in life. Someone that does these type of things? They don’t deserve a second chance in life. What are we coming to as a society here in California, that it’s okay with this to let him out?
You think about some of the offenders that do the child abuse cases, child molest cases. Typically, they’re older males. Now we’re seeing a lot of folks in their 20s and 30s.
So under the law—and we… a lot of folks in their 20s that have pending cases right now—they can be, up to the time they’re 50, having done 20 years. It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Someone has to speak up about it, and we’ve got to change this.
So he lured these kids, kidnapped the kids, kidnapped two sisters. He was convicted of 16 counts of kidnapping [and] child molestation with multiple young children.
Remember: the youngest victim, three years of age. Since over 20 years in prison, as well as three additional consecutive sentences—consecutive, not concurrent, is that they follow each other.
A judge in Sacramento described him—and I’ll say this—as ‘the monster parents fear most.’ Yet today, the parole board decided he is suitable for release. We can’t have this.
It’s got to change. And in California, it’s battle after battle when it comes to our children. A few years ago, we’re fighting human trafficking of a child; that wasn’t a violent felony. Had to fight to get it passed. They got it passed.
Now we’re dealing with mental health aversion. You can kill your one-year-old infant and get your record expunged and go work with other kids. What the hell is going on in California?”
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