David Allen Funston, a convicted serial child molester once described in court as “the monster parents fear the most,” has been granted elderly parole, a move that has left survivors and the prosecutor who tried him furious and fearful. The decision clears a path for his release from the California Institution for Men after decades in prison, a prospect that one victim summed up starkly: “That man is a monster.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the Board of Parole Hearings this week upheld a September grant of parole after previously denying Funston in May 2022. CDCR records cited in the reporting show the full board affirmed that he is suitable for release, making the decision final unless it is overturned through legal or administrative appeal. Officials have not provided any estimated discharge date.
How elderly parole works
Under California’s elderly parole rules, inmates who are at least 50 years old and have served 20 continuous years in state prison can be considered for release. The Board of Parole Hearings is required to weigh a person’s age and long incarceration against any ongoing risk to public safety. The program emerged from court orders and legislative changes that broadened parole review for long-term prisoners. As the Board of Parole Hearings explains, elderly parole is an administrative suitability review, not an automatic release, and certain sentences are excluded from eligibility.
Prosecutor and victims seek civil commitment
Former Sacramento County deputy district attorney Anne Marie Schubert, who prosecuted Funston in the 1999 case, has sent a letter to CDCR requesting that he be screened under California’s sexually violent predator law, the Los Angeles Times reported. If evaluators determine he meets the criteria for a sexually violent predator, the Department of State Hospitals can urge prosecutors to seek a court order for civil commitment to a state hospital instead of community release.
The California State Auditor has detailed how the sexually violent predator process works, including clinical evaluations, petitions by prosecutors and court proceedings that decide whether a person enters the SVP system and, in some cases, a conditional-release program.
A long, violent history
Funston was convicted in 1999 of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation for a series of attacks in 1995 and 1996. Prosecutors said he lured children with candy and toys and, in at least one assault, held a knife to a child’s throat. Multiple children, some as young as 3, testified against him. He received a sentence of 20 years and eight months, plus three consecutive 25-to-life terms…