Parole board overturns early release of convicted Moreno Valley child molester – Press Enterprise

On Wednesday, July 3, the state parole board revoked the early release of convicted child molester Cody Woodson Klemp, 68, of Moreno Valley. Klemp will appear before the parole board for a new hearing within the next four months. Klemp was already a convicted rapist before his 1994 conviction for repeatedly raping his 14-year-old niece in his home in 1990. (Photo courtesy of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)

On Wednesday, July 3, parole officials in California revoked the early release of a Moreno Valley man who had served 30 years of a 170-year sentence for repeatedly raping his 14-year-old niece.

Cody Woodson Klemp, 68, has been incarcerated at the California Institution for Men in Chino for three decades for sexual assaults that occurred in his home in 1990.

Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Kamaria Henry said in a telephone interview Wednesday that a panel of the full state parole board decided the earlier “decision to parole this particular inmate was imprudent.” Another hearing before the parole board is scheduled within the next 120 days.

“Essentially, they are saying they want to reverse the previous decision of the original parole board that granted parole and they want a new hearing to decide the question of whether (Klemp) should be released,” Henry said.

Related: Rape victim is appalled by early release of Moreno Valley man who still has 140 years to serve

Klemp, who was convicted in 1994, was eligible for parole in November 2023 under California’s Elderly Parole Program, which allows inmates ages 50 and older to receive a parole hearing if they have served 20 years of their sentence continuously.

The parole board decides whether an inmate is suitable for release based on his age, the time he has already served and whether his physical condition has reduced the risk of violence. In Klemp’s case, the board decided that he was suitable for parole based on his age, low risk of violence and employable skills.

The “process worked”

Henry said the parole board faces the daunting task of conducting two to three hearings a day, often involving very complex cases.

“I can’t blame them for their decision, even if I don’t agree with it,” she said. “There is a process to appeal such decisions and thank God that process worked.”

At the time, Klemp’s victims and district attorneys condemned the decision to release Klemp, with District Attorney Mike Hestrin calling it a “devastating blow to the victims.” They appealed to Governor Gavin Newsom and called for a hearing to reconsider Klemp’s release.

In March, Newsom asked the parole board to re-examine the case, which led to Wednesday’s decision by a three-commissioner parole board panel.

“It will now be as if the decision from the last hearing in November had not been made. (Klemp) is back to square one,” Henry said. “We are absolutely satisfied because our primary position is that this particular inmate has not been rehabilitated, and that lack of rehabilitation is why we believe he poses a danger if they release him.”

Permanent scars

In an interview with the Southern California News Group in November, Klemp’s victim said she was terrified of Klemp’s release from prison. A probation officer told the judge at his sentencing in 1994 that Klemp had threatened to kill her if she reported his crimes.

Klemp was 29 years old when he repeatedly raped his niece in his home in 1990, leaving her with permanent physical and psychological scars. It began with playful tickling and then escalated to repeated rape and psychological abuse.

When Klemp’s victim threatened to kill herself, he said he gave her a gun and told her to do it.

“He came into my room, kicked my mattress to wake me up and said, ‘Wake up, you whore – you disgusting slut!'” she said.

“He made me learn to cut myself. He made me hate myself,” Klemp’s victim said during his parole hearing on Nov. 8. “Unlike Cody, there is no parole board for me and his victims,” ​​she said. “We cannot ask or petition for release from our mental prisons.”

Criminal history

According to court records, a jury convicted Klemp in June 1994 on 40 counts, including 20 counts of lewd acts on a 14-year-old child, 10 counts of forcible oral sex or violence on a 14-year-old child, and 10 counts of unlawful sexual intercourse/rape.

By this time, Klemp was already a convicted rapist. He had been convicted of rape in 1976 and attempted rape in 1981. The latter assault landed Klemp in Patton State Hospital for three years as a mentally disturbed sex offender. Klemp’s 1976 and 1981 crimes occurred in Long Beach, according to prosecutors.

Early release

In a statement Wednesday, Hestrin said, “While this practice of early release is far from unusual in this day and age, it is shocking that such a release is even being considered, given the inmate’s particularly brutal criminal history and his confessions before the parole board itself.”

Hestrin said his office would “continue to oppose the early release of incarcerated offenders in the interests of victims and public safety.”

Henry said her office has seen an increase in the number of inmates deemed eligible for parole long before they have completed their original sentences, despite prosecutors arguing that certain inmates still pose a danger to the community.

Victim speaks out

Klemp’s victim, now 48, also made statements on Wednesday via a press release and a video soundbite in which she can be seen as a silhouette in the presence of another person.

“Every time I think about it, I have to bring my mind back because it wants to break away from it because it’s just so unreal – he had raped me four times before,” she said.

She said Klemp would “definitely rape again” if he was ever released from prison.

“He has been raping since he was 18,” she said. “The only time he didn’t rape was when he was in prison.”