Not guilty plea for convicted child rapist Funston in new Placer County case
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- David Allen Funston was arraigned on a new child sexual abuse charge in Placer County.
- His attorney entered a not guilty plea to the charge from a 1996 Roseville incident.
- Prosecutors filed the new charge as Funston was set to be released on elderly parole.
David Allen Funston, a convicted child rapist found suitable for elderly parole, returned Monday to Placer Superior Court where he faces a new child sexual abuse charge stemming from a Roseville incident 30 years ago.
Funston, 64, was arraigned during Monday morning’s brief hearing on a felony charge of committing lewd or lascivious acts on a child younger than 14 years old. Martin Jones, Funston’s defense attorney, entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client.
Judge Garen J. Horst scheduled Funston to return to court April 6 for further proceedings in his criminal case.
Funston has been held in the Placer County Jail since Feb. 26 without bail. A hearing to determine whether the judge should set a bail amount for Funston was scheduled for Monday, but the defense attorney withdrew that request.
The Placer County District Attorney’s Office filed the new criminal charge stemming from the January 1996 incident involving a child in Roseville just as Funston was set to be released from the California Institution for Men in Chino.
Prosecutors said the newly filed charges fall within California’s statute of limitations. Under state law, prosecution for sex crimes against minors can begin any time before the victim’s 40th birthday.
Investigators in 1996 were working on the Placer County case, the DA’s Office has said. Prosecutors did not file separate charges against Funston at the time because they believed his existing life sentences ensured he would remain imprisoned.
District Attorney Morgan Gire has said the victim’s cooperation “makes the path that much clearer” in prosecuting the case. He said the victim was younger than 10 at the time of the sexual abuse.
Funston faces up to eight years in prison if convicted of the new charge. He was serving a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole for the 1995 kidnappings, rapes and sexual assaults of eight Sacramento-area children. He was sentenced in 1999 on 16 counts tied to those attacks and had served 27 years when the California Board of Parole Hearings found him suitable for release in September.
The board reaffirmed that decision in February, setting the stage for his planned release under California’s elderly parole program. He qualified for a parole hearing under the statutory program, which allows certain inmates 50 or older who have served at least 20 years of continuous incarceration to be considered for release.
The Bee’s Darrell Smith contributed to this story.
