In the quiet halls of select parole hearings across the country, a dangerous experiment is unfolding. It’s an experiment rooted in the proven research that most people – even violent offenders – come from crime. But as recent, chilling cases across the country prove, age is no cure for evil. For example, California’s parole law for the elderly has become a threat to public safety and will set back the smart crime justice movement.
I have worked on major criminal justice and public safety reforms across the country. I worked extensively on the First Step Act and was in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump when it was signed. I spent my first career as a criminal defense attorney, representing many people charged with violent and gang crimes.
I also spent time in prison for causing a non-fatal drunk driving accident and was released on parole myself. As someone who has dedicated much of my life as an advocate to second-chance recruitment, re-entry, and making the streets safer through smart crime policies, California’s safety valve for sex offenders is the wrong answer.
California has become the test case for a law that is rooted in science but misapplied. Under California Penal Code Section 3055, almost any inmate who is 50 years of age or older and has served at least 20 years consecutively is eligible for an elder parole hearing. The problem with this law is that it also includes people who have raped and kidnapped children. These laws are designed – and often enforced – as compassionate release for the sick, but they turn into a parachute for child predators who need to be stopped.
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David Allen Funston is in court during his arraignment on new child sex abuse charges following controversy over his impending release under California’s elder parole law. (Fox40)
A failing system
When people are released primarily because of their age, without regard to their crimes or the realities of rehabilitation and return, disaster is inevitable. It is not surprising that people who have manipulated and harmed children have taken the opportunity to manipulate parole boards and courts.
Some of these people have even been sentenced to life imprisonment with dozens of convictions for kidnapping, child rape and sexual assault involving victims under the age of three. They used candy, costume jewelry and Barbie dolls to lure children into their cars before subjecting them to horrific violence.
There is a real difference between a person – with any crime – who is physically or medically ill, or in need of nursing home care, and someone who is considered elderly at age 50. Making age the primary deciding factor for heinous crimes against children – which are not decreasing at the same rate as other crimes – will make our communities less safe.
The myth of the ‘elderly’ child kidnapper and rapist
Parole advocates point to statistics showing recidivism rates among paroled seniors as low as 1.8%. However, these figures are dangerously misleading when applied to sex offenders. A longitudinal study that followed sex offenders for 25 years found that 34% committed at least one sexual offense after release. For high-risk predators, the ‘desistance’ period is often a mirage. California released a report in 2026 showing that overall crime decreases with age, but that people in the Sex Offender Management Program over the age of 60 had a 9.5% recidivism rate three years after release.
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Certain crimes undoubtedly decrease with age – including murder, drug and alcohol offences, assaults and even organized gang activity. Child abduction, rape and similar crimes motivated by deep psychological compulsion are not declining at the same pace.
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The way forward: paroling the elderly, excluding certain violations
Older releases – with certain common-sense conditions and exclusions – make sense. For example, bills have been introduced to raise the eligibility age to 75 and require a 30-year prison sentence for violent sex offenders, while permanently excluding those convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
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As those with sex crimes against children exploit the parole of the elderly, advocates and policymakers must come together to enact smart, common-sense reforms. This is a far cry from a former gang member committing a crime at the age of 25 or an immature person robbing a store.
Elderly parole, properly administered, recognizes the relationship between age and most crimes. It must also adequately guard against risky violations and offenders. Without these guardrails, our communities will be less safe, and it will be more difficult – if not impossible – to enforce and implement common-sense parole and parole laws for the elderly in the future.
