Tom Block hopes one day the Captain America shield in his eye will be a sign a child is safe
Largo, Florida (CNN)Ret.
Sgt. Tom Block is sitting in the classroom, looking restless. He and 23
other highly specialized, highly coveted candidates are all vying for a
job where they will be exposed to some of the most horrifying images
humanity can produce.
Each
candidate is a veteran of America's recent wars. Many were part of the
elite special ops forces. They conducted daring, covert missions to take
out America's most dangerous enemies.
Many
were wounded in battles across Afghanistan and Iraq. And now that their
military career has come to a close, they are looking for a second
chance to find purpose in their lives back at home -- and the answer
could be the HERO Child-Rescue Corps, saving at risk kids.
J. Christian, CEO of the National Association to Protect Children (Protect),
says: "A lot of the individuals who come into the HERO Corps are truly
individuals who have lost their mission on the battlefield."
Christian,
an Army Ranger who fractured his spine during a mission in Afghanistan,
says many of the veterans who come into HERO are hoping to regain that
something they lost when they left the service.
Block is hoping to get a second chance to "go after bad guys again."
"In
one second their entire life changed. When that happens, I know from
personal experience, you start to wonder, what can I now do? And once
you find this opportunity, you know it's truly your opportunity to step
back into that role."
The HERO --
Human Exploitation Rescue Operative -- program is designed for wounded,
injured and ill veterans to receive training in sophisticated computer
forensics, to join federal agents fighting against online child sexual
exploitation.
Developed by Protect, in conjunction
with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Special Operations
Command (SOCOM), the veterans receive 11 weeks of intensive training and
10 months of on-the-ground experience.
They
work alongside law enforcement teams executing warrants and serving as
computer forensic analysts as part of a year-long unpaid internship.
That means scanning computers and external hard drives on-site to
determine whether the suspect possesses child pornography and,
critically, whether the suspect is also producing child pornography.
During
that year-long internship, HERO Corps trainees will sift through
thousands of disturbing images of adults sexually assaulting children.
"You
see groups of children being abused at levels the average American
cannot fathom. If you imagine an infant getting gagged and bound and
tortured, it's not a rare occurrence to come across," says Christian.
Comments
Post a Comment