In Loving Memory of Kristin Danielle Helms June 5, 1990 - July 16, 2006

In Loving Memory of Kristin Danielle Helms

The Internet has been called "The greatest telecommunication breakthrough since the telephone." The World Wide Web was unleashed in 1991, with the first audio/video broadcast in 1992. In 1994 Netscape released the first commercially available web browser, and in 1998 Google and iTunes were introduced. MySpace launched in 2003, providing enticing ways to communicate socially with the written word, photos, and music, as a growing number of children and teens began to become familiar with the Internet. The Internet provides an avenue for communication, entertainment and education for our youth. Sadly, behind the numerous positive aspects to this growing technology are also innumerable dangers for children and teens. The primary threats to children are Internet sexual predators, pornography, and bullying. With an annual growth rate of the Internet at over 600%, pornography streaming, sexual predators lurking, and the majority of Internet Safety child protection bills failing to become law in the last 12 years, parents and children should be at a heightened level of awareness to online dangers. All should be alert to the growing exposure to the Internet at schools, libraries, coffee shops, friend's homes and cell phones. Increasing technology and the wireless capabilities will soon make the location of the computer in the home a non-issue, as access in nearly all locations will soon be the norm. The birth of the World Wide Web parallels the birth and short 16 year life of our precious daughter Kristin who fell victim to an Internet sexual predator.

Kristin Danielle Helms
June 5, 1990 - July 16, 2006

According to FBI records, Kristin encountered the 28 year old Kiley Bowers on the Internet in 2005, when she was only 14 years old. He groomed, manipulated and enticed Kristin with flattery in the power of the written word and photographs during their continuous communication for approximately 8 months. Kristin's computer was removed during the time of grooming for nearly 6 months when a MySpace account was discovered which was not allowed. Kristin told the FBI that she utilized the high school computers to communicate with the predator before he traveled from Texas to California in December 2005 to molest her. In May 2006 Kristin fell into a deep and debilitating depression for which medical attention and therapy was sought. On June 4, 2006 Kristin was in tears, and began to describe the communication with Kiley Bowers and the sexual molestation he perpetrated upon her. Sheer terror, horror and fear for Kristin's well-being resonated to the core. Emotions of disbelief and shock lingered, as the police were called immediately. Kristin gathered and accessed all information pertaining to Bowers, and fully cooperated with the FBI investigation which led to Bower's swift arrest on July 20, 2006.

On July 16, 2006 the dark clinical depression that Kristin had been enduring due to the cruel physical molestation and verbal assaults perpetrated by Kiley Bowers came to an end, as did our life of contentment and happiness. Upon arriving home from church, we found that our irreplaceable and precious Kristin had taken her own life. A intimate part of a parent dies with their child at such an unimaginable and horrifying reality. What remains is an emptiness . . .An ache that dwells in the soul each and every day.

Some believe that an Internet sexual predator is not a valid and growing threat to young people, and often teens mistakenly believe that they are too smart to become a victim. Sexual predators on the Internet are undeniably present, incredibly dangerous and a continuous threat. The predator's dishonesty is indisputable, as they lie and deceive in order to achieve their disturbing and disgusting criminal objectives. They desire and often succeed in making an innocent child or teen believe that they care about them or want to be their friend. Some take on the identity of an entirely different individual for their sick and perverted deceptions, hoping to lure their victim to a remote location. When a grown adult sexual predator makes contact with a young, impressionable and emotional teen or child, they know precisely what will appeal to this innocent youth and how to specifically draw them away from family and friends.

Families in the last decade and beyond since 1998 are under continuous assault by online exposure resulting in threats to children. Never has there been such a powerful negative, stealth-like influence on young minds and lives as with the Internet, as communication is too easily exchanged under a parent's radar. A child's access to computers continues to grow out of the parent's control as technology advances. Most parents have significantly less computer knowledge than their children. Blocks, passwords and security software can be bypassed by teens that have learned to traverse the hardware and software as would a computer programmer. The "Kristin Helms Internet Safety Foundation" has been established to bring a greater awareness to the dangers online. It is hopeful that knowledge of Kristin's horrifying molestation by an Internet sexual predator will help another child think before communicating with or revealing personal information to a stranger online. The dangers are not media hype, but are legitimate, substantial, undeniable and increasing. The pain of life without Kristin will linger as a shattered heart and an empty ache for a lifetime. It is desired that our family pain and torment has purpose and the power to lead other children on a safer path, avoiding the unfathomable suffering our family endures.