Mention the words child abuse and most people would shy away from it. But for Emily Hooper (right) it’s not something she can ignore. Chief reporter Hayley Robinson spoke to her about her job as a child abuse investigator.

As I began my interview with Emily Hooper I suddenly felt uncomfortable.

As a mother of a six-year-old boy, I found it hard to understand why this pretty 28-year-old woman would want to immerse herself in a world of horrific crimes against children.

Before I knew it, the words "Why do you do it?" spilled out of my mouth.

Her quick, yet meaningful answer was: "I wanted to make a difference and help people."

Emily, who works across Swale borough, joined Kent police as a uniformed PC in April 2007.

Prior to that she had studied psychology at Roehampton University during which time she spent her final year carrying out extra research into the behaviour of sex offenders and the impact it has on their victims.

It was December 2008 that she took up the position at Sittingbourne police station.

"I showed an interest quite early on in wanting to investigate that type of crime so when the job came up, I was approached to be interviewed for it," she said.

"I wanted to give victims of sexual abuse a voice. The biggest fear for them is that they’re not going to be believed because that’s what their abuser tells them.

Emily works alongside three other constables – only one of whom is male – plus a male sergeant.

Together they hope to get justice for the victims but building a case is a lengthy process and it can take anywhere between 18 months and two years before it reaches a conclusion.

She said: "It is hard sometimes. Some of the cases can be historic and the evidence you have can be fairly limited. You just have to make sure the victim knows about the difficulties from the off set and let them know they are supported by us."

She openly admits that some cases have an impact on her but a close network of friends, family and colleagues help pull her through the dark times.

"I do have to view videos and images sometimes but you just have to try to distance yourself from it," she said.

"I don’t have the answer to what makes me different to someone who couldn’t cope with it.

"It is difficult to contemplate that someone can commit those crimes against anyone let alone a child but you have to focus on the object which is protecting children.

"You can never take away what those people have been through and what they’ve suffered but for them it’s about them feeling they’ve finally been believed."