In California, justice is a revolving door—but only if you’re the criminal. Victims, meanwhile, are left standing outside wondering when their nightmare will return. The Golden State’s progressive experiment in “rehabilitation” has produced no shortage of cautionary tales, but few as stomach-turning as what unfolded this month in Sacramento.

A 64-year-old man who spent decades behind bars for unspeakable crimes against children was granted his freedom. Not because he’d served his time. Not because new evidence exonerated him. But because California decided that monsters deserve second chances too.

David Allen Funston was convicted in 1999 on 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation. His hunting ground was the suburbs of Sacramento, where he prowled neighborhood streets in his car, searching for prey. His weapons of choice: Barbie dolls and candy. His victims: at least eight children—seven girls and one boy—ranging in age from three to seven years old.

One victim, a five-year-old immigrant girl who barely spoke English, was assaulted and abandoned fifty miles from her home. The judge who sentenced Funston called him “the monster parents fear the most.” The court handed down three consecutive life sentences.

A Second Chance for the “Worst of the Worst”

But California had other plans. Under the state’s Elderly Parole Program—expanded in 2020 and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom—inmates who reach age 50 and serve at least 20 years can petition for release. Last year, the Board of Parole Hearings granted Funston exactly that. Three life sentences, gone with a vote.

From former Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert:
What a joke. Newsom not only SIGNED the law allowing early release at 50…he appointed these people. I prosecuted Funston. He earned his 3 life terms. No rational human being would think releasing him is a good idea. Yet…Newsom’s parole board did. Let that sink in.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. When public outrage erupted, Newsom’s office called the criticism “MAGA MISINFORMATION.” The governor, they insisted, had “no authority to reverse” the independent board’s ruling. How convenient.

Justice Finds Another Way

Here’s where the story takes a turn. The day Funston walked out of prison, he was immediately transferred to Placer County Jail. Prosecutors had filed a new charge: the sexual assault of a five-year-old girl in 1995—one of the witnesses who testified against him at his original trial. Under California law, child sexual assault can be prosecuted until the victim turns 40. He’s now being held without bail.

Poetic justice? Maybe. But it shouldn’t have come to this.

The System Newsom Built

So the monster is back in a cage—for now. But let’s be clear about what nearly happened. A man sentenced to die in prison for brutalizing toddlers came within hours of freedom because Gavin Newsom signed a law, appointed a board, then threw up his hands when they did exactly what he empowered them to do.

Call me old-fashioned, but three life sentences should mean something. In Newsom’s California, they don’t. And the only thing standing between predators and playgrounds is the desperate creativity of local prosecutors cleaning up Sacramento’s mess.

Key Takeaways

• David Funston received three life sentences for molesting children as young as three—California’s parole board released him anyway.
• Governor Newsom signed the early release law and appointed the board members, then blamed “MAGA misinformation” when criticized.
• Local prosecutors scrambled to file a decades-old charge to keep Funston behind bars.
• Democrats have twice killed legislation that would exclude child predators from elderly parole eligibility.

Sources: Daily Wire, San Francisco Chronicle, California Post