Parents think kidnapped son was
molested
By CHERYL WITTENAUER, Associated
Press Writer Thu Jan 18, 7:46 PM ET
ST. LOUIS - The parents of a
kidnapped Missouri boy said Thursday they believe their son was
molested during the four years he was missing, and his grandmother
claimed his captor had awakened the boy every 45 minutes, apparently
as a way to control him.
The comments came the same day the
man suspected of snatching 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck in 2002
pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping another boy on Jan. 8.
Michael Devlin, a 41-year-old
pizzeria manager, was accused of taking 13-year-old Ben Ownby just
after he got off the school bus in Beaufort. A schoolmate's tip
about a white pickup truck helped lead authorities to Devlin's
suburban St. Louis apartment and to the dramatic rescue of Ben and
Shawn on Jan. 12.
Prosecutors said Devlin, who also
is charged with kidnapping Shawn, terrorized the boy with a handgun
to get him to cooperate.
The case has prompted authorities
to investigate Devlin in cases involving two missing boys and one
girl in eastern Missouri dating back to 1988.
During an interview with Oprah
Winfrey on a show that aired Thursday, Shawn's parents said they
have not asked their son what happened on the advice of child
advocacy experts.
"OK, I'm going to go there and ask
you, what do you think happened? Do you think he was sexually
abused?" Winfrey asked Shawn's parents, Craig and Pam Akers.
Both nodded and said, "Yes."
While it is The Associated Press'
policy not to identify alleged victims of sexual abuse in most
cases, Shawn's case has been widely publicized and his name is
well-known. Also, the family has maintained a high public profile,
conducting several interviews — including the one in which the
sexual abuse issue came up.
Shawn's grandmother, Anna Quinn of
St. Louis, told the AP Thursday that the boy has not spoken Devlin's
name, and that he has said little to relatives about what he went
through. But Shawn did tell his family that at times during his
captivity, he would be awakened every 45 minutes by his captor.
"Think to yourself when you don't
get enough sleep," Quinn said. "He had to do something to get his
cooperation."
Shawn, who had dark floppy hair and
piercings in his face when he was found, had a cleaner look in a
taped interview with Winfrey. He said he always hoped for a reunion
with his family.
"If it wasn't for Ben, I might not
be here right now," Shawn said. "I'm thankful that he held in there
for those few days. I told myself a long time ago I never wanted any
kid to go through what I went through."
Shawn said he was not ready to
discuss details of his abduction and the subsequent 51 months he
spent living with Devlin. Winfrey said the boy told her off-camera
that he was "terrified" to contact his parents during the last four
years.
Devlin's attorney, Michael Kielty,
declined to respond to the claim of sexual abuse, saying he hasn't
seen evidence in the case. "The only thing I have is an allegation,"
he said.
N.G. Berrill, a psychologist and
director of the consulting firm New York Forensic and professor at
the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said it makes sense to
look into old cases now that a suspect is in custody.
Devlin "may have tried this before
and not known how to pull it off," Berrill said.
He said a serial kidnapper tends to
be "an isolated, socially awkward individual ... the kind of person
people say that seemed OK and people didn't get to know them.
"He looks like an average Joe,"
Berrill said. "I suspect he has this need to keep kids. He's sort of
collecting children."
Lincoln County, Mo., authorities
called Devlin the "most viable lead" in the case of Charles Arlin
Henderson, who was 11 when he disappeared while riding his bike in
1991 and has never been found.
The boy, known as Arlin, was, like
Ben and Shawn, about 100 pounds and from a rural town about an hour
from St. Louis.
"We can't discount him in an
investigation into any missing child," Lt. Rick Harrell said.
___
Associated Press reporters Jim
Salter, Sharon Cohen, and Christopher Leonard in St. Louis; Betsy
Taylor in Potosi, Mo.; and Sophia Tareen and Don Babwin in Chicago,
contributed to this report.
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