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Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil (R- Jackson) today declared her opposition to the confirmation of five Board of Parole Hearings commissioners, with a powerful speech on the floor of the Senate, highlighting a dangerous pattern of granting parole to some of California’s most violent sex offenders and endangering families across the state.
“These commissioners have repeatedly chosen leniency over public safety,” said Senator Alvarado-Gil. “In the past year, panels that included these nominees granted parole to convicted serial child predators and a violent stranger rapist, offenders who should never be released.”
- David Funston kidnapped and sexually assaulted multiple children as young as three and four years old. He lured victims with candy and toys, drove them to isolated areas, choked them, and threatened to kill their families. The trial judge called him “the monster parents fear the most.” Despite admitting ongoing pedophilic fantasies as recently as 2021, the board found him suitable for release under elderly parole in September 2025; the full board upheld the decision in February 2026.
- Gregory Vogelsang was convicted of nearly 30 counts of kidnapping and sex crimes against children ages 5 to 11 and sentenced to 355 years to life. The board granted him parole in November 2025.
- Roberto Detrinidad broke into a sleeping woman’s San Francisco apartment in the middle of the night, climbed into her bed, and sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious. He was granted parole in January 2026 after serving less than nine years.
“Current law demands independent judgment, not blind deference to psychological reports or pressure to reduce prison populations by the Governor,” Alvarado-Gil stated. “Commissioners are required to determine whether an inmate poses an unreasonable risk to the public, and they have both the authority and the duty to say so. Yet these nominees refused even to commit to making their individual votes public, despite the law allowing full transparency.”
To her Democratic colleagues, Senator Alvarado-Gil encouraged a no vote on the confirmations stating, “The law does not require you to vote on party lines independent of the protection of your constituents.”
Said Senator Alvarado-Gil: “The people in my district are strong supporters of the 2nd amendment… because of appointments like these… where we give the power and authority to non-elected officials to make decisions about the welfare and safety of our children and families by releasing sexually violent predators back in to the community; you better believe that I will vote over and over and over again to protect 2nd amendment rights for my constituents.”
Senator Alvarado-Gil concluded: “Parents in District 4 and across California have a fundamental right to feel safe. No family should live in fear that a serial child molester or violent predator could be released into their neighborhood because a commissioner prioritized release over protection. Public safety is not optional. I urge my colleagues to reject these confirmations and demand commissioners who place victims and public safety first.”
Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil has long championed tougher public safety policies and stronger protection for crime victims and will continue to fight for laws that keep sexually violent predators in prison.