{"id":4579,"date":"2026-07-15T13:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579"},"modified":"2026-07-15T13:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:08:07","slug":"2-sex-offenders-who-prompted-push-to-reform-californias-elderly-parole-law-die-within-weeks-of-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579","title":{"rendered":"2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Two Inland Empire convicted sex offenders whose parole cases became flashpoints in efforts to reform California\u2019s Elderly Parole Program have died within weeks of each other, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

Read more 1 dead and 3 missing after boat carrying mostly family members sinks near Alcatraz Island<\/a><\/p>\n

Cody Woodson Klemp, 70, of Moreno Valley died July 9 and Charles William Mix, 71, of Riverside died June 19. Their cases helped fuel proposed legislation to exclude violent sex offenders from early parole eligibility.<\/p>\n

Klemp was transferred to a medical facility from the California Institution for Men in Chino and pronounced dead at 11:55 a.m. Thursday, CDCR spokesperson Mary Xjimenez said. She said the San Bernardino County Coroner\u2019s Office will determine his cause of death.<\/p>\n

Klemp had served more than 32 years of a 170-year prison sentence for the repeated rape of his 14-year-old niece in his home in 1990. His parole case sparked a broader push to reform California\u2019s Elderly Parole Program, drawing criticism from victims\u2019 advocates, prosecutors and lawmakers who argued violent sex offenders should not be eligible for early release.<\/p>\n

Although the California Board of Parole Hearings later rescinded Klemp\u2019s parole grant, his case helped galvanize legislative efforts to narrow the program and exclude violent sex offenders from consideration.<\/p>\n

Klemp was already a convicted rapist at the time of his 1994 conviction, having been found guilty of rape in 1976 and attempted rape in 1981. The latter assault landed Klemp in Patton State Hospital for three years as a mentally disordered sex offender. Klemp\u2019s 1976 and 1981 crimes occurred in Long Beach, according to the Riverside County District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

The judge in the case involving Klemp\u2019s niece took his prior convictions into account when sentencing him to 170 years in prison in 1994. At the time, a probation officer who recommended the maximum sentence noted that Klemp had threatened to kill the victim for reporting the sexual assaults.<\/p>\n

Mix was pronounced dead at 7:15 p.m. June 19 at California Medical Facility in Vacaville. The Solano County Coroner will determine his official cause of death, Xjimenez said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Mix was convicted in 2004 for the June 2003 kidnapping, rape and molestation of the 5-year-old daughter of a roommate. He was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole, for lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under 14 years of age, kidnap for rape\/oral copulation\/sodomy, and aggravated sexual assault of aa child under 14.<\/p>\n

At Mix\u2019s Sept. 25, 2024, elderly parole hearing, the Board of Parole Hearings denied his request for early release, finding he remained a public safety risk. He would have been eligible for another parole hearing in 2031.<\/p>\n

Klemp\u2019s victim, now 50 and living in Orange County, said she received an email from the CDCR on Thursday, July 9. She clicked on the attachment and first noticed the words, in all capital letters at the top of the document, that read, \u201cNotice of release \u2014 confidential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Valkyries aim to keep win streak going against Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever<\/a><\/p>\n

Her first thought was that Klemp, who has haunted her memories for more than 36 years, had again been granted parole and was up for release. She thought, \u201cNot again. Not now. Can\u2019t it wait?\u201d It was her daughter\u2019s 28th birthday on Thursday, and she didn\u2019t want it to be tainted by upsetting news.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Then she got to the line that said, \u201cThe inmate identified below died on 7\/9\/2026.\u201d Her feeling shifted from fear and anxiety to relief and disbelief. She said she rejoiced.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the Lord\u2019s justice, in the Lord\u2019s time. I just kept shouting \u201cdead, he\u2019s dead!\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019m also deeply sad that it took God\u2019s justice to do what California justice never could do because of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a telephone interview Friday, Claira Stansbury, the sister of Mix\u2019s victim \u2014 who is now 29 and lives out of state \u2014 said, \u201cWe all feel a little lighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just felt like a weight lifted off our shoulders of this lingering evil,\u201d said Stansbury, who along with Klemp\u2019s victim has been pivotal in the legislative push for elderly parole reforms.<\/p>\n

She said she received a notice May 14 that Mix had been transferred to the California Medical Facility and placed in hospice care, then subsequently received notice of his death.<\/p>\n

Despite Mix\u2019s death, Stansbury said she plans to continue fighting for elderly parole reforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we can fight for others, and we\u2019re no longer doing it out of fear of (Mix) getting out, we\u2019re doing it because others need help,\u201d Stansbury said.<\/p>\n

As to the coincidence of Klemp and Mix dying within a month of each other, Stansbury said: \u201cI\u2019ve never been much of a religious person, but the fact that both of them are gone now, within weeks of each other, is definitely a higher power, and it definitely wasn\u2019t California legislators.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Newsom revives local news fund at a fraction of the amount first promised<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cody Woodson Klemp and Charles William Mix both died in prison, having been rejected for early release under state’s elderly parole law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cody Woodson Klemp and Charles William Mix both died in prison, having been rejected for early release under state's elderly parole law.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-15T13:08:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-15T13:08:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579\"},\"wordCount\":845,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e9cdfa3eb494fbdbad2833a2d87203f0.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579\",\"name\":\"2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e9cdfa3eb494fbdbad2833a2d87203f0.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-15T13:08:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e9cdfa3eb494fbdbad2833a2d87203f0.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e9cdfa3eb494fbdbad2833a2d87203f0.jpg\",\"width\":999,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4579#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other - Next City Digest","og_description":"Cody Woodson Klemp and Charles William Mix both died in prison, having been rejected for early release under state's elderly parole law.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-15T13:08:07+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other","datePublished":"2026-07-15T13:08:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579"},"wordCount":845,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e9cdfa3eb494fbdbad2833a2d87203f0.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579","name":"2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e9cdfa3eb494fbdbad2833a2d87203f0.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-15T13:08:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e9cdfa3eb494fbdbad2833a2d87203f0.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/e9cdfa3eb494fbdbad2833a2d87203f0.jpg","width":999,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4579#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2 sex offenders who prompted push to reform California’s elderly parole law die within weeks of each other"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}