{"id":256701,"date":"2026-04-08T01:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T01:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/256701\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T01:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T01:06:13","slug":"anger-over-california-parole-releases-spark-lawmakers-to-course-correct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/256701\/","title":{"rendered":"Anger over California parole releases spark lawmakers to course-correct"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fury over the parole release of a child sex predator has now made its way to the state legislature, where Democrats are moving closer to the middle<\/a> to address a loophole that let it happen. <\/p>\n

Both Republicans and Democrats advanced a bill Tuesday that would limit who would be eligible for an elderly parole hearing. The elderly parole program<\/a> allows inmates over the age of 50 who have served 20 years to petition for release.<\/p>\n

The proposal, from Democrat Stephanie Nguyen, would raise the age to 65. Sacramento County\u2019s most reviled child predator<\/a> was 64 when he was granted parole in February. <\/p>\n

\"MugshotThe proposal would raise the age to 65 and brings other changes. Sacramento County\u2019s most reviled child predator was 64 when he was granted parole in February.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation<\/p>\n

David Allen Funston reportedly kidnapped and molested at least eight children \u2014 seven girls and one boy \u2014 luring them in with Barbie dolls and candy. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone commits violent sexual crimes, especially against children, the consequences must reflect the seriousness of that harm,\u201d said Assemblymember Nguyen, when announcing the bill. \u201cAB 2727 ensures that individuals convicted of the most serious sexual offenses are not eligible for elderly parole.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill calls for several other changes. Elderly offenders who are convicted of certain high-level sexual crimes against a child would not be able to get parole, while other sexual offenses raise the bar.<\/p>\n

The current district attorney for the county, Thien Ho, said Nguyen\u2019s bill will make a difference.<\/p>\n

\"DemocraticDemocratic Assembly member Stephanie Nguyen, of Elk Grove, announced the bill. AP<\/p>\n

\u201cRecent changes to elder parole laws break our promise to victims and endanger our most vulnerable\u2014our children,\u201d Ho said in a statement. \u201cOur community deserves better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another case also sparked outcry. Last month, Gregory Lee Vogelsang, 57, was granted early release despite a more than 300-year sentence<\/a> for sexually abusing children. He was convicted of kidnapping and molesting multiple children between the ages of 5 and 11 in the \u201990s in the Sacramento area.<\/p>\n

California Democrats at a legislative committee Tuesday put their support behind the bill, which has until the end of August to be sent to the governor.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia’s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scales of justice should be balanced,\u201d Assemblymember Nick Schultz said at the hearing, according to the Sacramento Bee. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be weighted so heavily that one side feels they have no voice at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Brian Jones, have also introduced legislation aimed at parole eligibility.<\/p>\n

In past years, legislation viewed as \u201ctough on crime\u201d have typically floundered in a Democrat-controlled legislature, especially when sponsored by a Republican lawmaker.<\/p>\n

But there have been exceptions when public outcry is intense. For example, in 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) intervened to revive legislation<\/a>, previously killed by Democrats, that would increase penalties for child sex traffickers following intense criticism.<\/p>\n

That was later signed into law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fury over the parole release of a child sex predator has now made its way to the state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,457,8948,13,121,23734,3586],"class_list":["post-256701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-parole","tag-politics","tag-sacramento","tag-sex-offenders","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}