[stlnative]

Someday Shawn will be back on the internet and may decide to do a search on his name and guess what web site with discussion threads will pop up first matching up to his name?

I shutter just thinking about some of the comments that are posted on FR about this case. Some of them are removed but some of them are not. The same thing happened when Elizabeth Smart was missing and then found. There were many nasty comments about her and her family here on FR.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

Agreed. To all, knock off the nasty speculation. That's really not what these threads are for. Stop the name calling back and forth. Let's decide for once and for all, is an ll-year-old a child or an adult. In some states 11 year-olds are wise enough to be put away for life. Which is it?

My gut tells me these are still kids, and boys, to boot. Mothers can tell you how vulnerable their sons are and how they can be manipulated, and I think any further discussions about the boys should be monitored by the Administrators of FreeRepublic. Pull the vicious ones.

[CedarDave]

Again, there are unmoderated forums out there that are much worse than anything allowed to remain on here. As he learned when he was abducted, the world is not all sweetness and light. Though mostly supportive, this forum does contain remarks from some folks who should know better. As part of his rehabilitation, I expect that he will be told not to internalize the bad ones but to celebrate the good ones.