Serial Child Kidnapper, Molester, Set For Release In Chino

CHINO, CA — A serial child molester who used candy and toys to lure youngsters to his vehicle so that he could kidnap and sexually assault them was granted early parole, which means he is expected to be released from the California Institution for Men in Chino.

David Allen Funston, 64, received the reprieve following a Feb. 18 Board of Parole Hearing that affirmed a prior parole recommendation issued last September. It's unclear whether Gov. Gavin Newsom will override the decision. In January, the governor referred Funston's September parole grant to the full parole board for review, state records show.

Funston was still at the Chino prison as of Monday. He was convicted in 1999 of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation stemming from grisly cases in the Sacramento suburbs. He received 20 years and 8 months in prison, as well as three consecutive sentences of 25 years to life.

During his trial, seven girls and one boy — all of whom were under the age of 7 when they were victimized — testified against Funston, according to reporting from the Sacramento Bee.

The Los Angeles Times recounted graphic details of Funston's crimes in Sacramento. In one 1995 horrific incident, prosecutors said Funston used candy to lure a 5-year-old girl into his car in Highland Hills, then took her up into the hills and assaulted her.

"He beat her. He took her underwear and shoved it down her throat because she was screaming. He then raped her to the point that she has vaginal trauma," former Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert — who prosecuted the California case against Funston — told the Times.

The child was dumped on the side of Highway 50, where she was found crying and walking barefoot, according to Schubert.

Another victim of Funston's was 4 years old when he used a Barbie doll to lure her into his vehicle 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. He performed multiple sex acts on her, causing her to bleed, the Times reported.

"He shouldn’t be breathing the same air that we’re breathing at all," the victim told the Times. "I disagree with him getting paroled out because he’s a horrible person. That man is a monster."

Before the Northern California cases, Funston had been convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in Colorado.

Schubert is pressing to block his release. She told the Times, "A lot of people get out of prison and I don’t scream about it, but this is one I’m screaming about."

Schubert is familiar with the most heinous criminal acts. She worked on the case against Joseph James DeAngelo — also known as the Golden State Killer. DeAngelo, a former police officer, committed 13 murders and numerous rapes and burglaries across California between 1974 and 1986.

Though that case attracted national attention, Funston's really unsettled Schubert.

"It was the worst child sexual predator [case] I’ve ever prosecuted, hands down," she said.

Under California’s 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. Funston was initially denied elderly parole at a May 2022 hearing, but was granted it in September.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not respond to Patch's request for comment on when Funston will be released or on the criteria used to determine it was safe to parole him. It's also unclear where Funston will live.

"For safety and security reasons, CDCR does not provide information on a person’s time or location of parole release," the state agency said in an emailed statement.

In an attempt to keep Funston institutionalized, Schubert has sent a letter to the Corrections Department asking that he be referred for screening as a sexually violent predator. Under California’s sexually violent predator program, offenders who are eligible to be released from state prison can be civilly committed to a state hospital and prevented from being released into the public, according to the Times reporting.