Placer County DA prevents the early Prop 57 release of local child molester

August 8, 2023August 8, 2023 swilliams

The Placer County District Attorney’s Office Post Conviction Unit successfully stopped child molester Gabriel Price from being released early. On Friday, Aug. 4, the Board of Parole Hearings denied parole for Gabriel Price, who was being considered for early release under the state’s Nonviolent Offender Parole Review Program.

In 2008, a jury convicted Price of more than 15 felonies related to sex with a minor under the age of 16. At the time of his initial sentencing, Price was sentenced to a term of 32 years. Due to the passage of Proposition 57, he is now eligible for early parole consideration, after serving only 15 years of his sentence.

In 2007, Price lured a 14-year-old runaway at a market in Lincoln, while he was already a convicted child molester. He then raped the underage victim in his car. Once he was apprehended by local law enforcement, he was incarcerated at the Placer County Jail while waiting trial. While at the jail he exposed himself to a female correctional officer and began touching himself – showing continued sexual deviancy.

Reports show that he continued this deviancy while in prison.

The opposition letter from the district attorney’s office explained, “Price is a repeat and unrepentant child molester. Despite the fact the inmate had previously been to prison for child molestation, he was undeterred in exploiting a vulnerable child. Only a locked facility can protect children from this sort of predator.”

This case is a perfect example of broken promises from Proposition 57. During the push to ask California voters to pass the proposition, policy makers promised that sex offenders would not be eligible for early release consideration. But attorneys for those offenders quickly disputed the rules’ legality and the Supreme Court agreed: that sex offenders could not be excluded from Prop 57 early release considerations. This made thousands of sex offenders, including Price, eligible for early release.

Placer County District Attorney’s Office Post Conviction Unit represents the people’s and victim’s’ position at parole hearings, while working with the Victims Services Unit to ensure victims’ Marsy’s Rights are protected during the parole hearing process.

During the process, victims are contacted and supported by the victim services unit. Should their contact information change, this can hinder the unit’s ability to contact the victim. If someone has been a victim of a crime and want to continue to be a part of the parole hearing process, they need to fill out the CDCR 1707 form: cdcr.ca.gov/victim-services/application/.