Hoan Ton-That interviews Josh Findley, Special Agent at U.S. Department of Homeland Security
By Hoan Ton-That INTERVIEWS
Hoan Ton-That: Josh, thanks for being here. Why don't you tell us about yourself, Josh, and where you work and what you do.
Josh Findley: I'm a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security investigations for about the last, 16, 17 years I've specialized in child sexual exploitation investigations, and, I have really gotten a rewarding experience out of having a positive impact on children's lives.
Hoan Ton-That: Great. So how did you get into wanting to be in law enforcement and then in this specialty child exploitation?
Josh Findley: So, I originally, got out of high school and decided I wanted to be in law enforcement and I was 18 years old and I was too young to do that. So I became a military policeman. So after that I wanted to move up in the ranks to the army criminal investigation division and was able to do that for several years and saw my civilian counterparts making more money and having a little more liberties to take leave and get time off. And so, I left the army and became a special agent for the treasury department at that time.
Hoan Ton-That: Oh interesting.
Josh Findley: And so after that, in 2004, I was able to work one of my first cases that involved a survivor of child exploitation. At that point we still talked about victims of child exploitation. Since that time, we've really evolved in our care and our understanding of what kids have gone through, and hence the change in the terminology to survivors.
Hoan Ton-That: Interesting. So is that what that transition was when you solved that first case or worked on it, how did that impact you and how you thought of your job in law enforcement?
Josh Findley: It was, it was so rewarding to see the impact that, the potential impact that this type of law enforcement had on children's lives. And I had a good friend, who told me a religious, scripture quote that if you save the life of one child, you save the world and so that, that always stuck with me. And to be able to give back to the most vulnerable people in our society is really where I felt a calling to go in my career.