Convicted child molester granted early release by California parole board arrested on day of scheduled parole

64-year-old David Allen Funston was transferred to law enforcement authorities from California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) custody at around 7:30 am on Thursday, hours before he was scheduled to be released on parole. The Placer County District Attorney’s Office said the refiled charges are within the state’s statute of limitations, per Fox News.

Funston was convicted in 1999 of 16 felony counts involving the kidnapping and molesting of multiple children, and was originally sentenced to three life sentences with the possibility of parole.

Under California’s Elderly Parole Program, the board granted Funston’s parole. Under the program, inmates may qualify after serving at least 20 years and reaching age 50, or after serving 25 years and reaching age 60.

In response to the new charges, a former prosecutor who helped originally out Funston behind bars wrote, "God bless Placer County DA for charging David Funston for crimes committed by this serial child predator. Let’s remember that [Gov Gavin Newsom] signed the law allowing this to happen. But Placer DA stepped in to stop this insanity."

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The decision to release Funston had been widely criticized, with the Sacramento Sheriff’s Office writing, “The people of Sacramento, and every parent across California, deserve answers. The California Parole Board has granted parole to David Allen Funston, a serial child molester who used candy and toys to lure children seven years old and younger.”

The office later added, “Yet today, the parole board has determined he is suitable for release. How do they explain that to those children and their parents? How do they tell families that a predator of this nature is ‘no longer a risk’? Under California’s Elderly Parole Program, inmates over 50 are eligible for parole. He is 64. Age does not erase predatory behavior. It does not undo grooming. It does not restore stolen childhoods. Childhood sexual predators do not suddenly become safe because they turned 50; they cannot be rehabilitated.”

One of Funston’s victims, Amelia, said she was “disgusted" by the board’s decision. "I’m disgusted with the fact that they would even believe anything that he would happen to say. I don’t believe that people like that change."

"If he gets out, who knows if he'll do it again?" Amelia said. "I was told that he fantasizes still about children… why would you let this man out? When he gets out, how do you not know if he will continue?"