Sacramento County officials criticize the parole board after convicted child molester Gregory Lee Vogelsang is granted parole.<\/p>\n
SACRAMENTO, Calif \u2014 Sacramento County law enforcement is again criticizing the elderly parole process after the Board of Parole Hearings granted parole for a convicted child molester after serving 27 years of his over 355-year sentence.<\/p>\n
Gregory Vogelsang, 56, was sentenced to prison for almost 30 counts of kidnapping and sex crimes against multiple children between the ages of 5 and 11 in the 1990s, according to Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho. He was sentenced to 355 years to life in prison.<\/p>\n
On Nov. 4, 2025, the\u00a0parole board granted<\/a> Vogelsang parole at a subsequent parole hearing. He was denied parole at his\u00a0initial hearing<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n According to Ho, Vogelsang had a risk assessment that was above average for reoffending. \u201cThis inmate will molest again, and yet this parole board is letting him out,\u201d Ho said.<\/p>\n He was eligible under the elderly parole program, which makes inmates eligible for parole if they are 50 or older and have served \u00a020 consecutive years.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c(Vogelsang) was sentenced to over 350 years, how\u2019s he getting out early? How do you reconcile that?\u201d Sheriff Jim Cooper said.<\/p>\n The district attorney and the sheriff\u2019s office are both calling for action in the state legislature to change the elderly parole program, as this is the second time in weeks they\u2019ve called for change after a sexually violent predator was granted parole through the program<\/p>\n Last month, they called for change after convicted child molester David Allen Funston <\/a>was granted parole. He was scheduled for release, but was arrested on new charges in Placer County.<\/p>\n \u201cThe parole board is letting us down; they are horrible,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cAfter this case and the Funston case, they need to be gone, period.\u201d<\/p>\n The district attorney said his office has asked the parole board to re-review the decision for Vogelsang\u2019s parole. That hearing will be held on March 18th.<\/p>\n