Scott airman’s trial will be Aug. 24 on desertion, sexual abuse charges

Tech Sgt. David Helm, 30, the Scott Air Force Base airman who was the subject of a nationwide manhunt six weeks ago, is set to go to trial Aug. 24 at Scott on seven charges, including desertion, sexual assault causing harm, rape of a child using force and sexual abuse of a child with a lewd act resulting in contact.

Helm remains an inmate of Scott’s pretrial confinement facility.

The Air Force charged Helm, 30, with desertion June 19. He was arrested in Reno, Nev., on June 8 — the same day he was set to face a court martial at Scott on charges he sexually abused two females, one of whom was younger than 16. Helm is also accused of videotaping “the private area” of the second minor.

Helm, who was assigned to the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, vanished June 5. Helm had told friends in the days before his disappearance that he was headed to LaFollette, Tenn., to visit family.

In fact, Helm rode his Yamaha motorcycle to Nevada to tick off items from a personal “bucket list” that included skydiving and driving a high-performance McLaren P1 sports car in Las Vegas. A Nevada Highway Patrol officer arrested Helm on the evening of June 8 outside Reno after stopping the fugitive for a broken motorcycle tail light.

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Scott airman’s trial will be Aug. 24 on desertion, sexual abuse charges."