California DA calls on Newsom to close child rapist parole loophole

A Mexican illegal immigrant serving a 139-year prison sentence for raping and impregnating his underage stepdaughter will be able to seek parole for the second time in the coming months due to a loophole in a law signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Israel Ceja’s early release was blocked Wednesday following a review by the general parole board convened by Newsom under pressure from Yolo County District Attorney Jeffrey Reisig. An official with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed to Fox News Digital that a new trial has been ordered for Ceja.

Reisig is calling on Newsom and California lawmakers to “stop the madness” by closing loopholes in the state’s Elderly Release Program that allow child rapists to be deemed eligible for parole.

“No one wants this,” Reisig told Fox News Digital. “The public doesn’t want this, and all they do is victimize and re-victimize victims and communities. Nobody wants these men to come back to their communities.”

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A jury found Ceja, 63, guilty in 2000 for years of abuse of his stepdaughter Roxanne Cruz, which began in 1993 when she was 11 years old. With roughly 20% of his sentence served, Ceja was granted early release by a two-commissioner parole board panel in January; that panel did not consult with the victim or notify the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted him more than 20 years ago. Reisig.

“Twisted,” Reisig said. “This is a twisted thing.”

In 2020, Newsom signed legislation amending the Elderly Release Program by lowering the eligibility age for inmates to age 50 with a 20-year sentence. The program was established in 2014 with eligibility set at 65 with 25 years of service. Democrats advanced the legislation with a criminal justice reform package aimed at addressing overcrowded prisons.

Although inmates who are considered three-strikes offenders, are serving life without parole, or are sentenced to death are not eligible for the program, offenders convicted of violent crimes, including sexual crimes against children, are eligible to participate.

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Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig is calling on California Governor Gavin Newsom and California lawmakers to close loopholes that allow child sex predators to become eligible for early release (Yolo County District Attorney)

Fox News Digital reported in February that David Allen Funston, who abducted and molested at least eight children in the Sacramento area in the 1990s, was granted parole under the Elderly Release Program.

California lawmakers, both Democratic and Republican, have introduced legislation in recent months to ensure convicted abusers are ineligible for early release.

One of these measures, introduced by California Republican state Sen. Roger Niello, died in the Senate Public Safety Committee earlier this week.

Niello said in a press release that he was “disheartened” by the rejection of the measure that would exclude offenders convicted of rape, sodomy, lewd and lascivious acts and other sexual offenses from senior parole.

Last month, Democratic state Assemblywoman Stephanie Nguyen introduced Assembly Bill 2727, which would raise the age at which convicted sex offenders can seek parole from 50 to 65 and require them to undergo psychological evaluations through the Department of State Hospitals. Although the measure passed the House Public Safety Committee earlier this month, the latest hike gutted provisions that would have prohibited violent sex offenders sentenced to life in prison from seeking early release.

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David Allen Funston, convicted of multiple counts of kidnapping and child molestation in Sacramento County in 1999, was granted parole eligibility under California’s Elderly Parole Program after serving more than two decades in prison. (@sacsheriff/X)

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Reisig called on Newsom to issue an executive order banning child molesters from the program, citing Newsom’s previous order placing a moratorium on the death penalty as evidence that he has that authority.

“He could impose a moratorium on elderly parole for child rapists with the stroke of a pen,” Reisig said. “He doesn’t want to admit it, but he did it for the death penalty. He could have done it here, too.”

“Step forward, protect the children,” Resig continued. “Don’t let child rapists out too early.”

The governor only has the authority to reverse a parole decision in murder cases, an official from Newsom’s office said, adding that in all other cases the governor can only send a decision back to the Board of Parole Hearings for full commissioner review.

Less than 12% of scheduled parole hearings result in the granting of parole by the Board, which the official attributes to commissioners’ reliance on “rigorous” and “numerous” steps in their decision-making process that include “the use of approved risk assessment tools.” Commissioners are trying to ensure that grantees “do not pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.”

But during Ceja’s parole hearing, Ceja admitted to commissioners that he had active sexual fantasies about his victim in prison and that he “didn’t remember” when he had his last fantasy but would pray for relief, according to a transcript obtained by Fox News Digital.

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Cruz said of the harasser at a press conference: “You don’t understand what he means when he says he’s going to pray. He told you right there what he was going to do.” “Not that you’re going to go out and prey on little kids, pray to God.”

During the hearing, Ceja said he would return to Mexico, where he immigrated illegally when he was 15. Commissioners acknowledged Ceja would likely be deported to Mexico after he is released from prison. Commissioner Neil Schneider said they were “not releasing a dangerous man” into Mexico but that Ceja would be an “excellent citizen” there.

At a press conference last month, Newsom acknowledged concerns about the Senior Release Program and said there needed to be a “deeper review” when it came to the state’s handling of violent sexual predators.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.