Chelsea King: Murdered Teen's Brother Making Documentary to Help Change US Laws - East Idaho News
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Chelsea King: Murdered Teen’s Brother Making Documentary to Help Change US Laws

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GETTY N 021713 LawJustice?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1361128198770Comstock/Thinkstock(SAN DIEGO) — The teenage brother of Chelsea King is making a documentary to honor his sister and inspire civic action, three years after she was raped and murdered while running in a California park.

When Tyler King, now 16, came to his parents with the idea of making a documentary, they were initially reluctant, his father Brent King told ABC News.

“We’re always worried about opening new wounds for him. He’s 16,” Brent King said.

Chelsea was raped and murdered on Feb. 25, 2010, by a man who had previously been convicted of sexually abusing a 13-year-old neighbor and, in retrospect, was found to have repeatedly violated his parole.

To try to prevent anything similar from happening again, the California legislature passed Chelsea’s Law in September 2010, seven months after the girl’s murder.

Tyler envisioned telling Chelsea’s story from his own point of view, while also giving children the information and tools they need to lobby for a law as strong as Chelsea’s Law in their states.

Chelsea’s Law has a “one strike” provision that means offenders convicted of forcible sex crimes against minors that include aggravating factors, such as age, are sentenced to life in prison without parole.

After discussing the idea as a family and consulting with a trauma expert, Brent King gave his son his approval and set out to help connect him to the resources he needed.

It turns out the Kings didn’t have to look far. Their San Diego network of supporters included Bruce Caulk, a director of documentaries and films who commutes between his home in La Jolla and his office on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles.

Caulk had coached a baseball team that had participated in a tournament to benefit the Chelsea’s Light foundation, and got to know the Kings.

“I saw an opportunity to use my skills and get the word out and help them,” he told ABC News. “She [Chelsea] kind of put the hook in me.”

Caulk and Tyler King are shooting the documentary piece by piece, as they raise the estimated $400,000 they will need through donations on the Chelsea’s Light website.

Scot Wolfe, a co-producer of the viral internet video “KONY 2012” is also lending his expertise to the making of the documentary.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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