'Three years is enough': Spanberger's board paroles man convicted in 2023 of raping a child

Clarence Eugene Billups had two rape convictions from 1992. In 2023, Norfolk Circuit Court convicted him of rape of a victim under 13, and the Parole Board recorded a parole violation against him the same year, according to the board's September decisions report. The Washington Examiner reported that he raped the child "while out on parole for two prior rape convictions."

On Sept. 10, Gov. Abigail Spanberger's parole board voted 4-0 to release him.

The jump is stark. A Washington Examiner analysis published Oct. 7 found that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's parole board approved 1.23% of parole requests in all of 2025, granting 32, while Spanberger's board, installed in mid-March, posted a 13.89% release rate in roughly half of 2026, with 38 grants, which the Examiner described as more than 10 times Youngkin's rate. A separate WJLA 7News analysis of every decision since Spanberger's board first met in May counted 48 grants in 205 discretionary and geriatric parole cases, about 23.4%, or "almost one in four," compared with fewer than two in 100 under Youngkin's board. Bolts magazine, analyzing monthly decisions, put Youngkin's board at about 2% from January 2022 through September 2023 and 1.6% for 2023. The analyses cover different periods and case counts, which is why the 2026 figures differ. The board's own reports show 14 grants in 44 parole decisions in August, about 32%, and 7 grants in 85 decisions in September, about 8.2%.

Two of the four members who voted, Chair Shannon Dion and Board Member Valerie Boykin, each said they concluded that "three years is enough time to serve on a technical violation," according to the approved minutes. The record lists that violation alongside a conviction for raping a child. The minutes do not explain how either member arrived at the word "technical."

The court suspended all but three months of the 10-year sentence for the 2023 child-rape conviction, the board report shows. But the parole violation itself carried more than 23 years, the time the board has now cut short.

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's board looked at the same man and said no. In September 2023, it denied Billups parole, writing, "Your prior failure(s) and/or convictions while under community supervision indicate that you are unlikely to comply with conditions of release," according to that month's decisions report.

The current board's reasons were medical. Members cited a "severe long-term disability limiting basic activity," a low risk-assessment score and a stable release plan. Vice Chair Kecia Brothers Hayes said the prosecuting attorney supports release, and the board's Victim Services team said the two victims "are okay with his release" but asked that Billups stay away from them and their families.

Those are real factors, and the board is entitled to weigh them. But the record shows that the last time Billups was trusted with parole, he ended up convicted of raping a child.

In keeping with this newsroom's policy, no victim is identified.

Spanberger appointed every member of the board, and they serve at her pleasure. Billups, 71, has served an estimated 29 years, 6 months in total, according to the board report.

Why the board matters: Virginia abolished parole for most crimes in 1995, under a truth-in-sentencing law pushed by Republican Gov. George Allen's administration, according to Bolts. The people still eligible are mostly those convicted of serious crimes before then, older prisoners seeking geriatric release, and people covered by 2020 expansions for juvenile offenders and some 1995-2000 jury cases, which Democrats passed after taking full control of state government in 2019, Bolts reported. That leaves the decision in the hands of five people the governor appoints. Statewide, violent crime fell to 210.5 per 100,000 residents in 2025, down 7% from 2024, according to the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

Norfolk is an independent city in Hampton Roads.