Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed a bill raising the age at which California sex offenders serving life sentences become eligible for parole, from 50 to 65.
The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, requires people convicted of serious sexual offenses to serve at least 25 years in prison before they can be considered for release. Under the state’s elderly parole program, some inmates have qualified for a hearing at 50.
Assemblywoman Stephanie Nguyen, a Democrat from Elk Grove, carried the bill after the Board of Parole Hearings recommended the release of two sex offenders from her district, both serving life terms for assaults on young children in the Sacramento region.
“It takes a more targeted approach and draws a clear line for the most serious sexual offenses, including cases involving multiple victims, while raising the bar for others before they can even be considered for release,” Ms. Nguyen said.
One of the two men, David Allen Funston, earned parole at 67 after serving 27 years. He had been sentenced to three consecutive terms of 25 years to life, plus 20 more years. The board found him eligible in September 2025. Mr. Newsom asked for a review of the decision in January, and in February the board granted his release to Placer County authorities, who charged him with a 1996 child sexual assault and have held him in custody since.
The other, Gregory Lee Vogelsang, earned parole at 57, also after 27 years. He had originally been sentenced to 355 years to life for molesting at least six children ages 5 to 11, according to CalMatters. His parole drew protests from both the Sacramento County sheriff and the district attorney.
“The parole board is letting us down,” Sheriff Jim Cooper said at a news conference in March. “They are horrible. I will say that out front. They are horrible. After this case and the Funston case, they need to be gone. Period.”
The board rescinded Mr. Vogelsang’s parole in June.
Civil rights and prisoner advocacy groups opposed the measure, warning that it could weaken parole laws credited with shrinking the state’s prison population. The Prison Policy Initiative, a Massachusetts nonprofit that opposes what it calls over-criminalization, wrote in opposition to the bill that it punishes a group that shows few signs of reoffending.
“The three-year recidivism rate for people released through California’s elderly parole hearing process is remarkably low -- among the lowest in the nation,” the group wrote. “There has never been a documented case of sexual re-offense by someone released through the Elderly Parole program, further undermining the premise of this bill.”
The new law limits eligibility for the elderly parole program to inmates over 65 who were sentenced for one-strike sex offenses, aggravated assault of a child, sex acts on a child 10 or younger, or who are considered habitual sexual offenders.