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This week on The Balanced Voice we welcome Crime Stoppers of Houston's very own Director of Victim Services and Victim Advocacy, Andy Kahan, to discuss the shocking trend of the repeat release of violent offenders on bond. In their conversation, Rania Mankarious, Andy and Expert Contributor, Jennifer Hohman, break down how this disturbing trend correlates to rising crime rates and affects Human Trafficking Victims.
ANDY KAHAN
Andy Kahan joined Crime Stoppers of Houston in June 2018 as its first-ever Director of Victim Services and Advocacy. Prior to Crime Stoppers, Andy served as the Victim Advocate for the Mayor’s Office and Houston Police Department for 26 years before retiring and joining Crime-Stoppers of Houston to resume his career as a Victim Advocate. Andy Kahan received his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice in 1983 from the University of Houston. He worked as both a Parole and Probation Officer before becoming the first victim advocate in the country to work in a Mayor’s Office. His responsibilities included working with local crime victim’s rights organizations to facilitate the pooling of resources and the exchange of information, accompanying, and representing victims before the Parole Board, putting crime victims in touch with local crime victims support and advocacy groups, and court accompaniment.
JENNIFER HOHMAN
Jennifer is one of The Balanced Voice’s Expert Contributors. Her career is in the oil and gas field and she is currently the Chief Information Officer and Vice President at Seadrill, but after she had multiple friends and colleagues whose daughters were groomed and lured online, she began her fight against human trafficking. Jen is also the Co-Founder of Houston 20 and #FightForUs, and the Founder of Houston Area Against Trafficking and Oil and Gas Trafficking Awareness Group.
Definitions:
Felony Bond- A cash bond that must be paid in order to be released from jail.
Personal Recognizance Bond (PR Bond)- A bond in which the judge waves all fees for bond and the defendant is released from jail without having to pay to be released into the community.
Legislation and Resources:
The Texas Legislative session began Jan 12th, 2021. There are many pieces of legislation addressing human trafficking that have already been filed. This session, we are particularly interested in two categories of legislation: Prevention and Protection, and Ending Demand. Watch the videos below for more information.
Thank you for following along with The Balanced Voice. The views expressed in each episode are those of the podcast guest and do not necessarily represent the views of The Balanced Voice or Crime Stoppers of Houston.
Thank you to our Episode 15 Sponsors, Brigitte and Bashar Kalai, Hallie Vanderhider, Sippi and Ajay Khurana, and Deep Water Productions.
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