A career criminal who allegedly kidnapped a mom and her two young children and forced them at knifepoint to help him rob a Kentucky bank was released from prison just a year earlier after a Dem-appointed judge granted him so-called “shock probation.”

Armond Langford, 32, allegedly broke into the family’s east Louisville home on Friday and forced the woman to drive him to a bank, where he demanded $20,000 from a bank teller working the drive-thru, according to local reports.

Langford, who held a knife to the woman’s throat during the terrifying ordeal, then stabbed the mom in the abdomen and ran off, leading police on a hours-long manhunt before he was arrested, WHAS11 reported.

Father Brandon Strong spoke of his disbelief and anger after learning that Langford had been sentenced to 14 years in prison just last year after he was convicted of nearly a dozen robbery charges.

He was then sprung by Judge Jessica Green — who was appointed as a Jefferson County Circuit Court judge by Kentucky’s Democrat governor,  Andy Beshear — just five months later in July 2024.

“It’s unbelievable that this was allowed to happen,” Strong told Fox & Friends. “This was not a guy running red lights.”

Judge Green cut the career criminal loose on “shock probation,” which gives offenders a second chance after they spend a short time behind bars. The idea is that the time spent in prison will shock them and deter them from committing crimes in the future.

“The whole entire judicial system that made this decision needs to go away,” Strong said. “How would that [shock probation] be an option for someone that’s a violent criminal?”

One of Langford’s previous robbery victims described how his family had pleaded for a lenient sentence during his trial last July.

Deloris Ezell was robbed by Langford at a Chase ATM during his four-month crime spree in 2021.

“She talked about what a good child he was and promised how he was going to do so much for her, but they wanted him out on probation, so that’s what they got,” Ezell told WAVE 3.

Langford’s attorney argued his client suffered from paranoia and personality disorders, but had sobered up and was doing well in a halfway house.

“The system don’t work for the innocent. It works for the guilty. Criminals get more rights,” Ezell said.

Langford was arrested on Friday afternoon, hours after the alleged robbery and knife attack in Lyndon, east of Louisville, and held on a $300,000 bond.

He faces multiple charges including robbery, kidnapping and assault, WLKY reports. 

Judge Green is set to preside over a hearing to discuss revoking Langford’s probation on Sept. 15.

In custody, Langford also admitted to three other armed robberies that took place between 2018 and 2020, the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department said.

Several Louisville lawmakers have spoken out following news of Langford’s alleged reoffending, calling his shock rehab an “egregious misuse” of the criminal justice system.

“Our hearts go out to the mother who was brutally stabbed and to her family, who endured the unimaginable trauma of kidnapping. No one should ever have to experience such violence, and our deepest prayers are with them,” the Kentucky Joint Majority Caucus said in a statement, using the case to highlight why they believe House Bill 5, also known as the Safer Kentucky Act, is so important.

“This tragedy underscores exactly why the Safer Kentucky Act is so critical. The offender in this case, sentenced just before HB 5 took effect, served only five months of a 14-year sentence before being released. Had he been sentenced after HB 5 became law, he would have remained in prison until at least 2033,” the statement continued.

“This egregious misuse of our criminal justice system is nothing less than a slap in the face to victims, undermining both justice and public trust.”