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<\/p>\nSparked by renewed public outrage over recent high-profile cases, California lawmakers are ramping up efforts to block the early release for some of the state\u2019s most violent sex offenders under a program that allows them to be paroled at age 50.<\/p>\n
Several bills are making their way through the Legislature that call for sweeping reforms to California\u2019s Elderly Parole Program, which currently allows incarcerated criminals to be considered for parole if they are 50 or older and have served a minimum of 20 years of continuous incarceration. Proposals would exclude violent sex offenders from the program, raise the minimum qualifying age to 60 and boost the continuous years requirement to 25 years.<\/p>\n
For example, Senate Bill 1278, introduced in March by Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, would disqualify from the program violent offenders convicted of crimes such as rape, continuous sexual abuse of a child, and rape in concert with human trafficking of a minor, among other offenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe the sexual offenses are particularly heinous, and I think there\u2019s pretty ample proof that people who commit these kinds of offenses really can\u2019t be rehabilitated,\u201d Niello said in a telephone interview.<\/p>\n
SB 1278 goes before the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, April 21, for review.<\/p>\n
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Convicted child rapist and kidnapper Charles William Mix, 70, waits in the courtroom during his arraignment at the Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif., June 5, 2003. Mix kidnapped a 5-year-old Riverside girl in June 2023, molested her and took sexually explicit photos of her. He was sentenced to 350 years in prison in 2004, but now qualifies for early release under the state\u2019s Elderly Parole Program. (The Press-Enterprise\/Silvia Flores)\n<\/p>\n
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Cody Woodson Klemp, 70, of Moreno Valley, has been incarcerated for more than 30 years at the California Institution for Men in Chino for the 1994 conviction for child rape. He was granted parole in 2023 under California\u2019s Elderly Parole Program, which was later rescinded. (Photo courtesy the Megan\u2019s Law database)\n<\/p>\n
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Sean Ramiro Lopez, convicted in 2005 of sexually abusing three of his students at Clement Middle School in Redlands in the early 2000s, was sentenced to 74 years in prison and served 20 years before he was released on May 1, 2022 at age 50 under the Elderly Parole Program. (Photo courtesy of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)\n<\/p>\n
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State Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, in this April 2024 photo. His SB 1278 proposes to disqualify violent, dangerous sex offenders from the Elderly Parole Program. (AP Photo\/Rich Pedroncelli)\n<\/p>\n
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Convicted child rapist and kidnapper Charles William Mix, 70, waits in the courtroom during his arraignment at the Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif., June 5, 2003. Mix kidnapped a 5-year-old Riverside girl in June 2023, molested her and took sexually explicit photos of her. He was sentenced to 350 years in prison in 2004, but now qualifies for early release under the state\u2019s Elderly Parole Program. (The Press-Enterprise\/Silvia Flores)\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a> More than half a dozen other reform bills include Assembly Bill 2727 by Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove, which would disqualify inmates convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child, forcible lewd acts on a child, sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child 10 years old or younger, and sexual offenses involving multiple victims qualifying under the state\u2019s one-strike law.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen someone commits violent sexual crimes, especially against children, the consequences must reflect the seriousness of that harm,\u201d Nguyen said in a news release, which also included a statement from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, whose office co-sponsored the bill.<\/p>\n \u201cI refuse to accept a reality in which the heinousness of the crime no longer matters, and the victims no longer matter,\u201d Spitzer said. \u201cNot every crime and not every criminal is the same and we cannot continue to allow our criminal justice system to be a one-size-fits-all system that erases accountability and ignores the victims.\u201d<\/p>\n AB 2727, which also has been endorsed by Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman, will be considered during the 2026 legislative session.<\/p>\n \u2018Monsters like this\u2019<\/p>\n While California\u2019s Elderly Parole Program has faced years of scrutiny \u2014 including cases in Riverside County<\/a> in which victims have publicly opposed early parole for their attackers \u2014 recent decisions involving two convicted sex offenders from Northern California, David Allen Funston and Gregory Vogelsang, have drawn more lawmakers into the fray.<\/p>\n Funston, 64, had been convicted in 1999 of kidnapping and sexually assaulting several children in the Sacramento area and sentenced to three life terms. He had served about 25 years when he was approved for release in February under the Elderly Parole Program. To keep him in prison, however, prosecutors charged Funston with another alleged child sexual assault stemming from a 1996 incident in Roseville<\/a>. He remains in custody awaiting arraignment, according to the Sacramento Bee.<\/p>\n Vogelsang, 57, was convicted in August 1999 of kidnapping and molesting five boys in Citrus Heights, about 15 miles northeast of Sacramento. He had served 27 years of a 355-years-to-life sentence when he was granted parole<\/a> under the same program in November 2025. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom referred his case to the full parole board for review, with a rescission hearing set for June 26.<\/p>\n \u201cFunston and Vogelsang, they are perfect examples of the sorts of offenses that just should not be considered for early release,\u201d Niello said. \u201cWe can\u2019t get rid of elderly parole, because it was a judge\u2019s panel that imposed it. \u2026 Since we\u2019re stuck with it, let\u2019s at least make sure that we don\u2019t allow people that commit really heinous crimes from getting out earlier than what their original sentence would dictate.\u201d<\/p>\n Funston\u2019s case also inspired SB 356 by Sen. Brian Jones, R-San Diego, which proposes rolling back the minimum age and time served qualifications for elderly parole to 60 years old and 25 years, respectively.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they\u2019re going to let monsters like this out of prison early, despite no signs of true rehabilitation and little of their lengthy sentences actually served, then we have a duty to act, and that\u2019s what this bill does,\u201d Jones said in a news release<\/a>. \u201cThe Parole Board has proven time and again it is incapable of acting in the best interest of Californians and it\u2019s painfully clear that the Legislature needs to intervene at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones, who did not respond to a request for comment, has long been on the front lines in the battle to reform the Elderly Parole Program. Last year, his SB 286<\/a> sought to exclude violent sex offenders and murderers from program eligibility. Although it unanimously passed the Senate Public Safety Committee, the bill died after it was put on hold due to budget considerations.<\/p>\n Jones\u2019 SB 356 is pending review before the Assembly Public Safety Committee.<\/p>\n The Riverside and San Bernardino County district attorney\u2019s offices and the California District Attorneys Association are among the agencies supporting the legislation by Niello and Jones.<\/p>\n \u201cThis bill aligns with the fundamental principle that the most serious crimes warrant the most serious consequences and ensures that victims and their families are not forced to repeatedly endure the trauma of parole hearings for dangerous offenders,\u201d Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a letter of support to Niello.<\/p>\n Inland Empire cases<\/p>\n Earlier calls to reform the Elderly Parole Program brought together victims, prosecutors and lawmakers from the Inland Empire.<\/p>\n One case that spurred public outage was the near parole of Cody Woodson Klemp<\/a>, 70, of Moreno Valley, who was convicted in 1994 of 40 felony counts in connection with the repeated rape of his 14-year-old niece at his home in 1990, when she went to live with him. Kemp was sentenced to 170 years in prison, and told a probation officer at the time of sentencing he would kill his victim if he were ever released from custody, court records show.<\/p>\n Klemp had already been convicted of a previous rape in 1976 before an attempted rape in 1981 landed him in Patton State Hospital for three years as a mentally disordered sex offender. Both of his prior crimes occurred in Long Beach.<\/p>\n Klemp was granted parole in November 2023 after serving nearly 30 in prison. However, the governor\u2019s office referred his case to the full parole board for review, and the panel ultimately rescinded Klemp\u2019s parole in July 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another convict who qualified for the Elderly Parole Program was Sean Ramiro Lopez, a former English teacher at Clement Middle School in Redlands who was granted parole<\/a> in May 2024. Lopez was convicted in 1995 for molesting three of his former students in the early 2000s and sentenced to 74 years in prison.<\/p>\n But he walked out of Mule Creek Prison in Ione after serving a bit more than 20 years of his sentence. Lopez was 50 years old at the time, meaning he had just met the minimum qualifications for early release under the program. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation classified him as \u201cvery low risk\u201d to reoffend.<\/p>\n
\nLocal prosecutors weigh in<\/p>\n