Overview
- The Board of Parole Hearings rescinded Vogelsang’s elderly-parole grant on Friday, so he will not be released and the CDCR said a new parole hearing will be scheduled within 18 months.
- The rescission followed formal requests for review from the Sacramento County district attorney, the county sheriff’s office and Governor Gavin Newsom, who urged the board to reconsider the November decision to grant parole.
- Vogelsang was convicted in 1999 of dozens of child-sex offenses and sentenced to 355 years; he became eligible for elderly parole after serving about 27 years of his term.
- Under California law inmates 50 or older with 20 or more years served can seek elderly parole, and CDCR data show the board grants parole to under 11% of eligible inmates and that roughly 1.8% of those granted elderly parole reoffend.
- The case has fueled lawmakers’ efforts to change elderly-parole rules, with multiple bills introduced this year to raise eligibility or limit qualifying crimes and at least one measure already passing the Assembly.