Monster who raped step-daughter, got her pregnant could walk free under Gavin Newsom law

A California pedophile who raped his underage step-daughter and got her pregnant could walk free after he was recommended for early parole under a controversial law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Israel Ceja, 63, could be released from San Quentin State Prison under Newsom’s elderly parole law, which grants freedom to old felons. He is just the latest in a string of geriatric monsters set for release under the controversial 2020 legislation, sparking outcry from law enforcement officials around the state.  

A two-person panel board of commissioners recommended him for early release in January, but the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office fired off a letter to Gov. Newsom on Monday, pleading with him to get the terrifying decision reversed.

Ceja began molesting his step-daughter after he married her mother in 1993, according to Yolo County DA Jeff Reisig. She was just 11-years-old.

His sickening abuse of the girl went on for years until she fainted in public in 1999, and she was taken to a hospital, where doctors discovered she was pregnant. The fetus’s DNA confirmed that Ceja was the genetic father.

The twisted stepdad had even tried to induce a miscarriage by having the underage girl jump from their house, Reisig said.

In his blistering letter, Reisig pleaded with Newsom to “use every ounce of his constitutional executive authority” to stop the release of Ceja and others set for parole under the policy.

“This decision to recommend elder parole and early release for this monstrous child rapist, whose primary plan is to ‘pray’ away his admitted desires for little girls, defies all common sense,” the DA wrote.

“California should not a safe harbor for child rapists,” he added.

Additionally, in July of 1999, Ceja pointed a gun at the girl, accused her of looking at other men, and then pulled the trigger.  Fortunately, the weapon didn’t fire, and she was able to escape. 

A Yolo County jury in 2000 convicted Ceja of multiple counts of forcible rape, assault with a firearm, child endangerment and lewd acts.  A Yolo County judge sentenced the evil pervert to 139 years in state prison.

The parole board in its January decision referred to the demented molester as an “excellent citizen” and said he poses no risk to society if released, citing his “genuine” plans for a new life.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which oversees the parole board, declined to comment on the decision to recommend Ceja for release.

“The Governor has not yet received this case for review, and we cannot comment further on pending cases,” said a corrections spokeswoman in a statement.

Newsom’s elderly parole law allows inmates who are 50 years or older and have served at least 20 years in prison, or those who are 60 and have served 25 years, to apply for early release. 

Convicts sentenced to death or to life without parole are excluded.

Under the original law, inmates were eligible for elder parole only after serving at least 25 years of their sentence and reaching age 60.

Newsom loosened the rule in an effort to ease prison overcrowding starting in 2021, allowing inmates to apply for parole after serving just 20 years once they turn 50.

But now, outrage is boiling over statewide over the law’s allowance of parole for child rapists and other jailbirds convicted of serious sexual offenses.

A whistleblower went public this week in San Francisco over the issue, raising alarms about the dangerously lax oversight of parolees. The former California parole agent warned that the state’s lack of monitoring could put the public at risk.

A state parole board in November recommended inmate Gregory Lee Vogelsang, 57, for early release after Vogelsang molested more than five children in the 1990’s and was sentenced to 355 years in prison for his crimes.

Vogelsang, who’s currently housed at Valley State Prison in the state capital, will face a full parole board for final review on Wednesday.

“The California Board of Parole Hearings is at it again,” the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post about the decision.

State corrections officials also in February granted parole to one of Sacramento County’s most infamous child predators, David Allen Funston, who kidnapped and molested at least eight children in the mid-’90s.

Amid public fury over the decision, Funston was slapped with new charges just hours before he was due to be released.

Ceja is still being held at San Quentin while the parole board waits for Newsom’s office to review their decision, which usually happens within about 120 days.

A spokeswoman for Newsom said the governor hadn’t yet received Ceja’s case for review, and his office couldn’t comment on pending litigation.