Capt. Becky Hord (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Click to enlarge]

And that's what Capt. Becky Hord of the Bedford County Sheriff's Department does - investigate child abuse and neglect cases.

There have been success and failures as well, but the 49-year-old Hord keeps at it to try to end the vicious cycle of abuse and give children a new chance at life.

Hord spoke Wednesday to Bedford County Exchange Club, which is fitting since one of the organization's main goals is the prevention of child abuse. The timing was also right since April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

During 10 of her 15 years with the sheriff's office, she ran the school system's DARE program. But for the past six years she has specialized in investigating the physical and sexual abuse of children.

The job "takes a passion, and I think sometimes I may get a little bit too passionate for this." She says there have been days where she though she couldn't take it any longer, but then an incident will occur, such as the case last week involving an infant, that will keep her going.

"Those who work in this field know that they can not always fix a problem, but they have to keep going."

Totally preventing child abuse would mean Hord would be out of a job, but she is okay with that. Unfortunately, when she is called to investigate, it's too late for prevention; the abuse has already happened.

The initial abuse referral comes to the Department of Children Services, the school system or some other agency dealing with the welfare of a child. When the investigation begins, the first step is to talk to the child and make them feel comfortable as possible so that Hord can get the information she needs.

And many times, that information can be horrific. Hord asked the audience to think about if she asked them extremely personal and detailed questions about your their lives ... this is what she is required to do with small children.

"They have to describe where Uncle So and So put his hand, how it felt, they have to tell me about the smell, what it looked like. Imagine a 6-year-old child describing that to me. That's what we have to have to prosecute a case."

To make a child explain these things, "breaks your heart, but you have to have that." Hord says in most of the cases she deals with, she will stay with the child from beginning to end, and thereafter.

Years later, some of the kids will approach Hord and asked if she remembers them. Other cases do not turn out so well at first. Hord related a story of two children, aged 3 and 5, who were raped by a family member.

The children were removed from the home, but due to a governmental mistake, the kids were sent back to the same home to be sexually assaulted again by the same family member.

"The second time, I made sure those children were put in a safe place," Hord said. The children have since been adopted, are living in another state and "are doing great." All it took was removing them from their environment, where there was a history of incest.

Sometimes, the best investigative method is to get the abuser to admit their deeds, simply to keep the child off the witness stand. And there are times where it's not possible prosecute. One case involved a 6-year-old giving Hord a detailed description of how her grandfather touched her improperly.

But on the witness stand, the child became confused when asked what happened and it gave defense attorneys just enough room to create doubt in a jury's mind and the case had to be dismissed.

"It's a uphill battle from beginning to end ... I love the Constitution, but sometimes, I think the perpetrators get more rights than the victims. This is what we deal with on a daily basis."

Hord said she was concerned about how the Tennessee legislature approaches laws dealing with child sex crimes, sometimes weakening the bills. For example, some convicted of statutory rape can now petition to have their names removed from the sexual offender registry.

A total of 35 bills are before the Legislature this session that deal with the abuse of children. One law already on the books deals with the environment the child is in, such as a filthy home. Currently, this is not considered abuse or neglect, Hord said. She has had cases overturned because it was determined that the child could continue to live in a dirty house.

"We need people to contact the Legislature to tell them that neglect is a serious problem with our children," she said. Just this week, there was a report in Shelbyville of a 4-year old child riding his bike in traffic on Elm Street with no supervision.

Hord added that over the past few months, she has been prosecuting more and more cases of statutory rape.

"It's becoming a problem. Our victims are getting younger and younger and younger."

As the only officer specializing in child abuse, she is on call every day of the year, 24 hours a day. If a case comes up in the middle of the night or when Hord is on vacation, she still has to deal with it.

Hord says some of the main causes of abuse are drugs and alcohol, although she admits that "babies having babies" are a big part of the abuse problem because young parents have no experience in being parents.

But it's mainly the endless cycle of abuse that she is trying to stop. Around 90 percent of the abusers were once victims themselves and putting a end to that will go a long way towards solving the problem.