DENTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – Denton County’s Sheriff Tracy Murphree says a new budget will allow him to hire two new full time investigators dedicated to child abuse cases.

Murphree says the numbers in reported child abuse cases are on a sharp spike in Denton county and the new resources are an unfortunate necessity in order to combat those crimes.

He said, “If we can’t take care of our kids what good are we?”

The two new investigators will be in place in the coming months and the entire focus of their work will be finding justice for children victimized by physical, sexual, and psychological abuse.

“All they are going to do is concentrate on helping these kids,” explained Murphy.

The sheriff attributed the increase in reported child abuse cases to two factors. He said law enforcement, teachers, coaches, and members of the community are better trained at spotting the red flags of abuse and they’ve been reporting it.

He also said the increase in population across Denton county has also led to more cases.

“With population comes more crime, and one of those crimes is going to be child abuse unfortunately.”

The investigators will work with the Children’s Advocacy Center for Denton County and the District Attorney’s office.