SACRAMENTO, Calif — An Elk Grove lawmaker is introducing legislation aimed at tightening California’s elderly parole program after two Sacramento-area child molesters were granted parole.
Assembly Bill 2727, authored by Democratic Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, seeks to raise the eligibility age and add new restrictions for people convicted of certain sexual crimes. Nguyen said the goal is to protect children and communities.
The proposal comes after convicted child molesters David Allen Funstun and Gregory Vogelsang were granted parole under the current elder parole program.
“Many of us have children and I wouldn’t want an individual like that living right next door to me, I wouldn’t want him living next door to anybody,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen said the legislation would change eligibility rules for inmates convicted of violent sexual offenses.
“We’re raising the threshold to those with violent sexual offenses to now say that you must be at least 75 years of age and have served 30 years in prison to be eligible. We’re also making it so that way anybody that have these sexual heinous crimes are not eligible for it,” Nguyen said.
Under current law, inmates are eligible for elderly parole at 50 years old if they have served a minimum of 20 years in prison.
Nguyen’s bill would also exclude some crimes from the program, including aggravated sexual assault of a child and sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child 10 years old or younger.
Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho, a co-sponsor of the bill, criticized the current law during a Thursday press conference.
“Under one of the most horrible unjust laws that we have in the state of California, elder parole, this law affords people such as child molesters like Vogelsang out of custody after molesting little children, after posing a threat,” Ho said.
But critics say the current elderly parole program already includes a rigorous review process and that additional restrictions could unfairly impact people who have been rehabilitated.
Colby Lenz with the group Survived and Punished said some people convicted of sexual violence have transformed and taken accountability for their actions.
“We’ve seen people who have committed sexual violence transform and take accountability for their actions. We don’t see their release as a risk to the community when they’ve gone through this really rigorous process,” Lenz said.
Lenz also questioned the motivation behind the proposal.
“It becomes more about scoring political points on the back of survivors than actually thinking about community safety and what we need and who’s safe to come home,” Lenz said.
Assembly Bill 2727 must still move through the legislative process before it could become law.
Republican Assemblymembers Tom Lackey and Josh Hoover have introduced a similar proposal, Assembly Bill 2570, which would raise the elderly parole eligibility age to 65.
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