A Sacramento man once described by a judge as \u201cthe monster parents fear the most\u201d seemed destined to spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation in 1999. <\/p>\n
Instead he is now set to go free after being granted elderly parole \u2014 much to the anger and horror of some of his victims, as well as the prosecutor who oversaw his case. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe shouldn\u2019t be breathing the same air that we\u2019re breathing at all,\u201d one victim, who was kidnapped and assaulted when she was just 4 years old, told The Times in an interview. \u201cI disagree with him getting paroled out because he\u2019s a horrible person. That man is a monster.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Allen Funston approached children playing outside their homes in the Sacramento suburbs and used candy and toys to lure them into his vehicle in 1995 and 1996, prosecutors said. <\/p>\n
Following his conviction, he was sentenced to 20 years and 8 months in prison, as well as three consecutive sentences of 25 years to life. Now 64, he is incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in Chino.<\/p>\n
Under California\u2019s elderly parole program, inmates are generally eligible for a parole suitability hearing if they are over 50 years old and have been incarcerated for at least 20 continuous years. The individual can then be released if the parole board determines they do not pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.<\/p>\n
Funston was initially denied elderly parole in a May 2022 hearing, according to records from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. However, he was granted parole at a board hearing in September, and that decision was recently upheld in a review Wednesday by the full board, CDCR records show.<\/p>\n
CDCR did not respond to a request for comment Friday on Funston\u2019s estimated release date or on the Board of Parole Hearings\u2019 rationale for deeming him suitable for elderly parole. <\/p>\n
But those involved in Funston\u2019s case struggle to understand how the program\u2019s criteria could apply to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people get out of prison and I don\u2019t scream about it, but this is one I\u2019m screaming about,\u201d said former Sacramento County Dist. Atty. Anne Marie Schubert, who prosecuted the case against Funston while serving as a deputy district attorney.<\/p>\n
Funston used a Barbie doll to lure the victim who spoke with The Times into his vehicle in Foothill Farms in 1995. He then took her to a house, bathed with her, put her on a bed, held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her if she told her family, prosecutors said. He performed multiple sex acts on her, causing her to bleed. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one sick individual,\u201d the victim said. \u201cWhat if he gets out and and tries to find his old victims and wants to kill us?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Times generally does not name victims of sexual assault.<\/p>\n