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California’s parole system just handed a convicted child predator a chance at freedom, and hardworking Americans should be furious. David Allen Funston, described at sentencing as “the monster parents fear the most,” was granted parole suitability through California’s Elderly Parole Program — a decision that every parent and community that values safety should find intolerable.
Funston was convicted in 1999 on multiple counts tied to the abduction and molestation of children, offenses that shattered childhoods and scarred families for life. He was sentenced to decades behind bars — including multiple consecutive terms — yet under the state’s rewrite of parole rules he became eligible for consideration once he reached the age threshold and served the required years.
The parole commissioners defended their ruling by pointing to therapy, self-help coursework and a professed plan to manage lifelong impulses, and the decision was affirmed in a recent full-board review on Feb. 18, 2026. For many Americans, no amount of “rehabilitation” paperwork erases the horror of what happened to those children or the life sentences judges intended when they imposed stacked terms.
Gov. Gavin Newsom publicly opposed the parole grant and referred the case back to the full board for reconsideration, but the governor lacks the power to unilaterally overturn the unelected panel’s action. This is a glaring flaw: when elected officials lack the tools to protect the public from repeat or likely recidivistic offenders, voters lose faith in the entire system.
Victims, prosecutors and local law enforcement have rightly reacted with outrage, demanding the state fix a law that allows sexual predators to slip toward release despite sentences that were expected to keep them behind bars for life. Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper and others have publicly called the decision “dead wrong,” and victims say they are re-traumatized by the thought of this man breathing the same air as their children.
Harris Faulkner and every truth-telling conservative in media must step in immediately and make this a national story, because silence equals consent when it comes to public safety. The unelected parole board should not be allowed to quietly undo sentences handed down by judges and juries; patriotic citizens deserve transparency and accountability now, not excuses.
Lawmakers on both sides are already moving — proposals have been floated to remove sexual predators from eligibility for elderly parole and to ensure those who committed the worst crimes are routed into civil-commitment programs instead of back onto our streets. These are commonsense fixes that protect children and restore the original intent of the criminal sentences imposed by our courts.
Gov. Newsom and state legislators must stop posturing and act: tighten the elderly parole law, ensure sexually violent predators face civil commitment when appropriate, and hold the parole board accountable for decisions that put our communities at risk. Voters should demand immediate hearings, rollbacks of loopholes, and real reforms that prioritize victims over abstract notions of “second chances.”
This is about protecting families, defending children, and restoring a basic promise of justice — that monstrous crimes have consequences that last. If you care about public safety, contact your representatives, support lawmakers who back real reform, and make sure the voices of victims and taxpayers drown out the indifference of a system that too often places ideology above safety.
