State Parole Board revokes early parole for convicted rapist

The state parole board on Wednesday overturned an earlier decision recommending parole for a 68-year-old Moreno Valley rapist who was sentenced to 170 years in prison in 1994.

The decision means that Cody Woodsen Klemp will remain in custody for now and will be remanded to the board for a future parole hearing.

In November 2023, the panel recommended Klemp be paroled under the state’s senior parole program, but Wednesday’s hearing was designed to determine whether an error was made at the original hearing.

According to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, Klemp was found guilty in 1994 of ten counts of rape, ten counts of oral sex with a child and twenty counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child.

“While this practice of early release is far from uncommon in this day and age, it is shocking that such a release is being considered given the inmate’s particularly brutal criminal history and his testimony before the parole board itself. It is devastating for victims to have to relive the trauma when justice was already served several years earlier,” District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a statement.

“Our office will continue to fight against the early release of incarcerated offenders in the interest of victims and public safety. The absurdity of this whole issue is that we have to fight so hard to convince the parole board that an obviously dangerous rapist must serve the entire prison sentence previously imposed. But that is exactly what we are doing and will continue to do every day until this madness stops,” Hestrin added.

In its November decision, the parole board cited Klemp’s “low risk of violence,” his age and employable skills as factors in its decision. The board agreed to review the decision, in part in response to letters from the state attorney general’s office to Governor Gavin Newsom urging Klemp to remain incarcerated.

“Parole hearings are our opportunity to argue against the release of inmates who we believe continue to pose a danger to the community,” said Assistant District Attorney Kamaria Henry.

“In recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of people being released on parole long before they have completed their original sentence, despite our argument that the inmate poses a threat to the community,” Henry added.

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