Funston, 64, was convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting multiple children in North Highlands, Foothill Farms, Roseville, and elsewhere. A Sacramento County jury sentenced him in 1999 to three consecutive life terms plus additional time. They wanted to ensure he would never receive a parole hearing.
But liberal-on-crime Democrats under Gov. Newsom passed California’s elderly parole law. Instead of building needed prisons, they created a federal court order to reduce prison overcrowding that was later expanded by the legislature. Under this law, Funston became eligible after serving more than two decades behind bars. The state Board of Parole Hearings last week reaffirmed a September decision that found him suitable for release.
Detectives linked him through eyewitness identifications and DNA evidence to kidnappings and sexual assaults involving children ages 3 to 7. There were eight victims — seven girls and one boy. One 5-year-old was abducted from her North Highlands apartment complex and found hours later in Pollock Pines, 50 miles away. After three days of deliberations in March 1999, a Sacramento County jury convicted Funston of 16 counts of kidnapping and child molestation. Superior Court Judge Jack Sapunor imposed three consecutive life terms plus additional prison time designed to ensure he would, at the time, never receive a parole hearing.
A female victim who was 3 at the time said he robbed them of their innocence and should serve the rest of his life in prison. Truly, rapes are the next worst thing to murder and maiming. This monster was released by the left-wing parole board to commit another crime despite detectives, victims, and others pleading against it.
He Did It Again Upon Release
Now he is in prison again. He is accused of sexually molesting another child. He pleaded innocent and only faces 8 years in prison, as if the other crimes never existed.
We’ve also obtained the transcript from Funston’s 2022 parole hearing, which is equally disturbing. In it, he admits he had incestuous sexual fantasies about his own young daughter, and he describes how he found the first child he raped while driving around in Sacramento. pic.twitter.com/HlVBcFWzsV
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 27, 2026
