California Republicans are demanding Gov. Gavin Newsom clean house after a state parole board upheld the release of serial child rapist David Allen Funston — blasting the governor for claiming his “hands are tied.”
Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) and other members of the Senate GOP caucus fired off a letter to Newsom on Wednesday urging him to take steps to remove and replace members of the California Board of Parole Hearings, which voted last week to approve Funston’s release.
“Hearing the news of Funston’s parole made me sick to my stomach,” Valladares said in a statement. “It made me sick thinking about the pain and suffering he inflicted on his victims, who were very young children, and sick thinking about how a monster like this could be granted parole.”
Funston, 64, was convicted in 1999 on 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation involving multiple young children. Living in a suburb of Sacramento, Funston reportedly kidnapped and molested at least eight children — seven girls and one boy — luring them in with Barbie dolls and candy.
One victim, a 5-year-old immigrant girl who spoke limited English, was assaulted and abandoned 50 miles from her home in a rural county.
Funston was granted parole under California’s Elderly Parole Program, which was expanded in 2020 through AB 3234 and signed into law by Newsom. Despite receiving three life sentences, Funston will go free thanks to a program that allows inmates over the age of 50 who have served 20 years to petition for release.
Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper, who previously served in the state Assembly, ripped into the parole board’s decision in a press conference.
“It is mind boggling that folks that purport to want to protect women and children and put their interests first don’t do a damn thing,” Cooper said. “The things he did to these kids cannot be undone — ever. It is not OK.”
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on any actions he intends to take. Newsom has said state law limits his ability to overturn parole board decisions.
“Bureau of Parole Hearings is an independent agency and made this decision,” Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for the governor, told the Sacramento Bee. “The governor doesn’t agree with the outcome.”
Republicans aren’t buying it.
In their Feb. 26 letter to the governor, Republican state senators called the decision “unconscionable” and warned that Funston “is still capable of harming children.”
Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-San Diego) accused the governor of trying to dodge blame.
“He signed the bill that gave a board stacked with his appointees the ability to set free a violent, serial child rapist into the community,” Jones said, adding that he has twice introduced legislation to change elderly parole and prevent predators like Funston from being freed. Democrats killed both effforts.
“Spare us the fake outrage, governor,” Jones said. “You created this whole system.”
