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Breitbart.com
Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby abducted:
Devlin Gets Life Sentences in Abuse Case
October 10, 2007
By Christopher Leanord
 ST.
LOUIS - The long trail of pain inflicted by Michael Devlin drew
toward a close with him describing in court how he assaulted an
abducted boy, seemingly oblivious to the anguished parents seated in
the courtroom for his confession.
Devlin has received dozens of life
sentences after pleading guilty to child kidnapping and sodomy
charges in state proceedings related to his abduction and sexual
abuse of young Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby.
After recounting some of his acts
during testimony given just feet away Shawn's weeping parents
Tuesday, Devlin faces additional charges in federal court Wednesday
morning. He is expected to plead guilty to charges of videotaping
himself torturing Shawn after kidnapping him, and transporting the
boy across state lines.
The hearing will be the last in a
series of proceedings this week that revealed how he kidnapped Shawn
and turned him into a captive who was forced to follow Devlin's
horrific orders to stay alive.
Devlin also admitted abducting and
abusing Ben before both victims were discovered alive in Devlin's
apartment.
The hearings were part of an
elaborate deal his attorneys struck in four jurisdictions where
Devlin was charged with more than 80 counts, including sexual
assault, kidnapping and attempted murder.
Devlin's life sentences assure he
will spend the rest of his life in prison. He is expected to serve
his time in the state prison system.
Devlin said through his attorneys
that he accepted his punishment because he knew what he did was
wrong _ a statement quickly dismissed by prosecutors and the boys'
families.
"He pleaded guilty because he does
not want the world to know the full extent of what he did," said St.
Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch.
Prosecutors laid out new evidence
showing that Devlin tortured Shawn during his first days in
captivity and made the boy promise not to flee in order to stay
alive. It was a "devil's bargain" that kept Shawn under Devlin's
sway for more than four years, even when the boy had phone and
Internet access, said Shawn's stepfather, Craig Akers.
"We know now the details that made
him not run away," Akers said after the hearings.
Devlin pleaded guilty to six counts
at a Washington County hearing Tuesday, accepting the maximum
sentence of three life terms in prison plus 60 years for kidnapping,
sexually assaulting and attempting to murder Shawn in 2002.
During that hearing, Devlin
admitted in graphic detail how he abducted Shawn in 2002 and
described the point at which Shawn apparently turned from a kidnap
victim into a powerless captive.
After Shawn was abducted at
gunpoint while riding his bike in rural Washington County, Devlin
took the then-11-year-old boy to his apartment in suburban St. Louis
where he repeatedly sexually assaulted him. Days later, Devlin took
Shawn back to rural Washington County in his pickup truck,
apparently intent on killing the boy.
He said he pulled Shawn from his
truck and began to strangle him, but Shawn resisted.
"I attempted to kill (Shawn) and he
talked me out of it," Devlin said.
Devlin stopped the choking, but
then sexually assaulted the boy again. Prosecutors say Shawn told
Devlin he would do whatever was asked of him to stay alive.
Prosecutors also said that Devlin
began abusing Ben Ownby immediately after abducting him Jan. 8.
Devlin abused the boy each day until authorities found Ben and Shawn
in Devlin's apartment and rescued them Jan. 12, as Devlin, a
pizzeria manager, worked the day shift at his shop.
After the Washington County
hearing, Devlin pleaded guilty to 71 counts in St. Louis County
Circuit Court _ two counts of kidnapping and 69 counts of forcible
sodomy of Ben and Shawn. He was then sentenced to 18 consecutive
life sentences in St. Louis County. He pleaded guilty to other
charges at a hearing in Franklin County on Monday.
Rupp said he was satisfied with the
sentences. "You heard it from his own mouth. You've heard what kind
of a monster he is."
While it is The Associated Press'
policy not to identify suspected victims of sexual abuse in most
cases, the story of Shawn and Ben has been widely publicized and
their names are well known.
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