CALIFORNIA'S ELDERLY PAROLE PROGRAM SHOULD ONLY APPLY TO INMATES 70-YEARS-OLD OR OLDER

Pedophile sentenced to 350 years for abducting and molesting girl, 5, in 2003 could now be freed by woke California law because he's elderly

 

By Laura Parnaby

 

Daily Mail

Aug 25, 2024

 

Charles William Mix was 47 when he kidnapped his friend's five-year-old daughter and smuggled her over state lines to Utah before subjecting her to his sordid fantasies in 2003

 

An 'inhuman' pedophile who was sentenced to 350 years in jail for abducting and molesting a five-year-old girl in 2003 could now be freed under a controversial California law.

Charles William Mix was 47 when he kidnapped his friend's daughter and smuggled her over state lines to Utah before subjecting her to his sordid fantasies in June of that year. 

Her family believed he would spend the rest of his life behind bars, but 20 years later, Mix, 69, could be freed under California's relatively new Elderly Parole Program due to his age after serving just six percent of his sentence. 

The victim, now 27, is not ready to speak about the horrors she endured, but her relatives have written a heart-wrenching letter imploring officials to keep Mix in jail - while blasting the parole program as offering a 'pardon lite' to felons. 

In the letter, they slam Mix as a 'vile' predator who was 'old enough to be her grandfather' while quoting the damning final remarks made by the judge who sentenced him to 350 years behind bars.  

 

An 'inhuman' pedophile who was sentenced to 350 years in jail for abducting and molesting a five-year-old girl in 2003 could now be freed under a controversial California law. The family of the victim (pictured) has written a letter imploring officials to block his release 

 

'I’m writing to request — no, to implore — that you deny parole for the above referenced inmate, who 20 years ago was sentenced to 350 years-to-life in prison for sexually molesting a 5-year-old girl,' the victim's family wrote to commissioners. 

'He was 49 years old at the time — old enough to be her grandfather, and certainly old enough to know exactly what he was doing.

'The basic facts stated above are vile enough. But the details of the crime are worse.'  

Mix was convicted on a variety of felony charges including willful child cruelty, kidnapping to commit robbery or rape, lewd acts with a child under 14, burglary and more. 

He had been living with the family in Riverside at the time of the abduction. On the morning of June 2, 2003, the girl's father realized she was missing and dialed 911. 

The next day, Riverside Police located Mix and the victim hundreds of miles away in Richfield, Utah, after a passerby noticed them and reported the sighting. 

Mix had fled with the child in a stolen vehicle, which was found to have disturbing heart-shaped scribblings on the interior. 

Police also uncovered sexually explicit photographs Mix had taken of the girl, along with love letters he had written to her. 

He later admitted to Utah detectives that he slept naked with the girl, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

 

Charles William Mix was 47 when he kidnapped his friend's five-year-old daughter and smuggled her over state lines to Utah before subjecting her to his sordid fantasies in 2003

Pictured: The stolen vehicle which Mix used to abduct the five-year-old girl in June 2003 

Pictured: Disturbing scrawling on the interior of the stolen vehicle which Mix used to abduct the five-year-old girl in June 2003

 

'Inmate Mix was not a stranger to the child, but a "friend" to both the child and her father,' the family wrote of his disgusting betrayal in the letter to commissioners.  

'They lived together in the same home, where he took advantage of his proximity, family-like relationship, and a very young child's trust — heaping long-lasting emotional damage atop the physical.'

Their letter goes on to quote the scathing final remarks made by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Christian F. Thierbach, who sentenced Mix to 350 years in jail.

Thierbach told Mix at the time: 'The human race has yet to create a punishment that adequately addresses what you did to this little girl, and I suspect one reason for that is what you did to her is inhuman.'

The judge went on to explain that Mix could only be freed from prison if he received a pardon.  

'I dare say if that happens, civilization as we know it will have ceased to exist,' Thierbach said. 

The family letter blasts the Elderly Parole Program as a 'pardon lite' which could make this horror a reality. 

Under the program, inmates who are 50 years or older and who have served 20 consecutive years in jail to the board of parole hearings.

 

'She has to deal with this for the rest of her life and she has to learn to cope with what happened to her for the rest of her life,' the victim's sister, Claira Stansbury said 

 

The victim's sister, Claira Stansbury, has also spoken with KTLA about the scarring impact the experience has had on her sibling. 

'She has to deal with this for the rest of her life and she has to learn to cope with what happened to her for the rest of her life,' she said. 

Stansbury added that this has been compounded by the prospect of Mix being freed.

'A lot of trauma has been reopened,' she told KTLA. 'Stuff that we have healed from that we have to dive back into.' 

The Elderly Parole Program aims to ease the financial burden of keeping elderly people in prison if officials believe they are unlikely to commit another crime. 

The parole board will consider the severity of Mix's crimes, whether he has taken responsibility or shown remorse for them, and whether he still poses a danger to society. 

Stansbury said she does not believe Mix can be rehabilitated, adding that the parole program is an affront to victims and their families.  

'The legislators all want to talk about how terrible life sentences are for this criminal, these types of criminals, I don't think they're actually looking at life sentences of the victims who didn't have a choice in this,' she told KTLA. 

'I absolutely think that he would offend again, whether it be going to find my sister or another innocent child.'

 

Pictured: the victim's father speaking with press at the time of his daughter's disappearance

 

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office said they stand with the victims who must attend parole hearings to keep 'dangerous felons' in prison.     

'It is appalling that the state continues to put victims and their families through further trauma, forcing them to fight for the sentences that have already been handed down by a court of law,' the office said. 

'This practice compels victims to relive their devastating experiences. 

'We have a team of dedicated attorneys and victim specialists fighting against the early release of dangerous felons. 

'Our office is committed to protecting victims and seeing that this practice of early parole, is put to an end.'

The family has appealed for the public's support for their letter urging the board to block Mix's parole, by emailing BPH.CorrespondenceUnit@cdcr.ca.gov.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You can email BPH even if you are not a resident of California.