Convicted pedophile set to be freed admits still lusting after child

A notorious pedophile told the California parole board he lusted after children as recently as 2021 — but they still tried to release him early.

Court transcripts from a September hearing show serial child molester David Allen Funston said that in 2021 he was still fantasizing over an eight-year-old friend of his daughter’s.

The vile predator even went into detail about the way he would pleasure himself behind bars while thinking about her, adding: “There’s always a possibility that I’ll relapse.”

The parole board was set to release Funston last Thursday under a Gavin Newsom-era law because he had turned 50 and had served more than 20 years in prison.

He had originally been given three life sentences for kidnapping and child molestation in 1999.

But in an 11th-hour intervention, the District Attorneys office filed historical charges from 1996 against him and he remains incarcerated.

Funston admitted in September to touching himself to thoughts of children while in prison. He also acknowledged having a “lapse” between 2020 and 2021, describing fantasies involving an eight-year-old girl who was his neighbor across the street and played with his then-minor daughter.

Since then, Funston claims he has developed an “urge control plan” with his mental health counselor in order to manage his deviant urges. However, he still admits to being attracted to young girls.

During the 2025 hearing, he also admitted to molesting a boy because the child was vulnerable and available due to his “desire for power and control.”

“There’s always a possibility that I’ll relapse. I, um, I know it’s not inevitable, so I know that it’s important for me to continue to build on my recovery.

“Uh, I don’t — I want to do everything I can to ensure that I — that I never harm another child,” Funston said at the time.

He appeared in court Monday to face the new charges and spoke only to confirm he understood his constitutional rights. He is being held without bail.

The district attorney said he brought new charges against the “very dangerous man” after California’s elderly parole law, signed by Gov. Newsom, made the 64-year-old eligible for parole, with even one parole board member describing him as “suitable” for release.

The law allows inmates aged 50 or older who have served at least 20 years of continuous incarceration to receive a parole suitability hearing.

“To be clear, this individual was previously sentenced to multiple life terms for extremely heinous crimes… However, subsequent changes in state law and recent parole board failures have altered the practical effect of those life sentences for the victims and communities at large,” the DA’s office said in a statement.

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