It doesn't always mean trouble when a giant group of bikers pulls up in front of a courthouse.
When Bikers Against Child Abuse is there, it means there's a child who needs backup while the person who hurt them is put in jail.
"We're not Sons of Anarchy," said Ratchet, vice president of BACA of Missouri and president of BACA of Mid-Missouri.
He visited Westminster College on Wednesday to speak about the group and the work it does. With him was Pebbles, a fellow BACA member who biked from Iowa for the event.
"We have the big uglies and the warm fuzzies," Ratchet said, pointing at himself and Pebbles in turn.
BACA is an international, nonprofit organization of volunteers who support child victims of sexual assault or violence.
"When a child is abused, and they're afraid of their abuser or the abuser has made threats, we remove the fear from the child," Ratchet said.
That could mean anything from standing guard outside the child's home to sending a stern letter to their abuser or accompanying the child to court. Ratchet made it clear BACA isn't made of vigilantes. While he's certainly been tempted to punch a perpetrator, doing so might compromise a court case and further hurt a child.
After being contacted by the child's parent, a district attorney or another relevant source, BACA sends a few members of a local chapter to meet with the child and their caregivers. Then, the whole local chapter comes by and gives the child a vest and a teddy bear to hug.
"We tell the kids, 'Once a BACA kid, always a BACA kid,'" Ratchet said.
Afterwards, the child is assigned two members as primary contacts. These members have to go through an extensive vetting and training process to qualify, Ratchet said. He's currently the primary contact for five children; the Mid-Missouri chapter looks after about 70 kids total.
Going to court can be incredibly scary for a child, especially when the perpetrator has threatened them. But having 20-30 bikers on their side can give the abused the confidence to testify.
"I've been asked by the judge to come up and stand between the perpetrator and the child on the witness stand," Ratchet said.
In another case, he and the group rallied to help one child physically remove the mark of her abuser. The abuser branded that child with a hot coat hangar and the mark caused the victim distress every time they saw the mark.
"We're conditioned not to react or say anything in court - just sit there stone-faced," Ratchet said. But hearing the details of her abuse made it hard.
He and the other BACA members agreed to pay for the child to have the scar removed. Ultimately, they found a doctor in Columbia who promised to do it for free.
Ratchet teared up as he remembered the child's joy and gratitude.
While "BACA kids" will always have the group on their side and will continue to be invited to BACA events, the group slowly weans them as they grow up. Ratchet said they don't want to be a reminder of a painful time.
"We want to be able to pull away and show the child they're strong enough to stand on their own," he said.
To learn more about BACA, visit missouri.bacaworld.org.