SACRAMENTO-

Sitting casually at his desk inside the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office downtown, Paul Durenberger’s eyes are fixed on his computer monitor, showcasing a smile that just won’t go away.

“It’s interesting to see these kids come together and realize they have a lot of stuff in common,” Durenberger notes without taking his eyes off the screen.

The assistant chief in the department focuses on domestic violence, and knows just how devastating the issue can be, especially to the children in violent homes.

But, his experience in the negative has turned into a positive when he’s outside of the office.

On his monitor is a YouTube video of kids being kids, victims of domestic violence households, but far away from that situation for a week.

This past summer the prosecutor helped take nine Sacramento kids to “Camp Hope California” near the Oregon boarder, introducing them to other kids across the state who have also experienced issues in their homes.

“We want to get to these kids while they are still young,” he says, referring to the youngsters participating in what would be considered normal camp type activities.

August was the first year Sacramento-area children had the opportunity to go to the camp, and it’s something Durenberger hopes will continue to happen year after year.

His job is to put the bad guys behind bars, but making sure the young ones don’t follow the same path is something he takes with him well after leaving the office.