Posted on 01/15/2007 8:27:11 AM PST by Halls
Kidnap victim Shawn Hornbeck was "brainwashed" into staying with his abductor after being told his parents no longer wanted him.
His kidnapper also threatened to shoot the 15-year-old after snatching him off the street.
Friends of the teenager have revealed Michael Devlin, 41, had at least three guns in the apartment where Shawn was held captive.
Tony Douglas, 15, who was Shawn's best friend, said: "We both knew there were guns in the house. Michael told us that he had the guns and were for his protection."
Shawn's stepfather Craig Akers, 45, has revealed his son's life was threatened by Devlin while he lived with him in a ground floor flat in Kirkwood, a suburb of St Louis, Missouri.
(Excerpt) Read more at thisislondon.co.uk ...
see 16
read 18 (to see what was in 16)
my comment in 20 was to 16 as sarcasm
"far too little attention is being paid to the low-life perp."
Michael J. Devlin is getting all kinds of attention in the local news. Authorities are keeping mum while they move methodically to find answers. They want to get this right and put this guy away for a long time.
See http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/BEA5ADA4817C93318625726400176102?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22devlin%22
I've just scanned this thread and the creeps outnumber the decent folk. What a dungheap of human stupidity (not you, them ;) )
Reading comprehension really pays off. Try reading a post before answering it.
I did not blame the boy.
Some measures we took:
1. He was never alone in the house.
2. He never came home from school to an empty house.
3. He never walked through a motel corridor alone, since one monster grabbed a kid at a motel and silenced him immediately.
4. He never went to a public bathroom alone.
5. We kept track of where he was at all times.
6. I always went along on school trips. No other father did.
7. He took karate lessons.
When children grow up with both their parents, a rarity today, bad things happen less frequently.
Also, we have a culture where child molestors and other sex criminals get out of prison too easily, if they are even charged. Bill O'Reilley is good on this issue.
Yes , I Really think the apologists have some sick %%%% in their closets . I wonder if the apologists were ever raped or beaten ........
Are you even human?
Just curious, you seen to have no knowledge of the mindset of a human child.
One who's father is dead, has been told his mother is dead also, been physically abused, sexually assaulted and in the care of madman.
Think about it and get back to me when you don't need a phonebook to reach the keyboard.
Amen!
I think you are right. It certainly seems that some are determined to justify the kidnapper by saying the victim "wanted it". And one has to wonder what strange mind bends makes them feel that way.
Not much better over on the Rush thread. All 24 all the time.
You say that now as an adult without the added trauma of actually being taken from your family and forced into the dark side of a very adult world.
I've worked with pedophiles and their victims. Let's just say that these scum are very manipulative. The physical stuff is much easier to heal from than the head games. That is what really screws up these kids.
Egads, Shawn's parents are going on Oprah Wednesday. I never knew I could despise that woman more, but this is just too much. Also, I don't see how the family thinks this is an appropriate time to be making a publicity tour.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/BEA5ADA4817C93318625726400176102?OpenDocument
I think kidnap victims start to believe that they've been so changed by what they've endured that they could never return to their former lives. Their parents couldn't accept them, and even if they did, the vicitm would never be the happy, normal person he was before. At some point, they feel hopeless and start to adapt.
I don't think that the poor kid had any will left in him. I mean, look at how submissive he was on Saturday, when his mother dragged him back to the fifth grade classroom where he was attending school when he was abducted. I can't imagine that the kid wanted to be there.
It also probably helped that he has a stepfather, rather than a biological father at home...
The POS Devlin did tell Shawn he would be killed according to the stepdad. The part about Shawn thinking his family didn't want him is speculation according to this article.
Devlin must have been very confident that nobody would recognize Shawn. Or, if they did, would do nothing about it. Sadly, and amazingly, he was right.
I think you might be projecting. According the the parents, they did not want Shawn there but he asked to go. The decision was left up to him.
Let's see... in a lot of news reports the neighbors have said that Devlin was always threatening to call the police. Maybe Shawn felt he couldn't trust the police.
I didn't see that.
Why would she do that?
I've seen HBO specials on kids with life threatening eating disorders, discharged from facilities because their insurance ran out.
I'm certain Shawn will get immediate mental evaluation and care, but I'm not so sure the family can financially keep it up?
It's likely he is going to need counseling for the rest of his life.
sw
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