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 ...
Devlin had no previous criminal history (except some minor traffic violations).
So they have the same right to be a kidnapper and child rapist? How long have you been defending scum like this? Good money in it? Are you proud of it? When it comes to harming a child you have given up your rights.
I posted my thoughts before I read yours which mirrors my feelings on all the speculation here.
wonder how many other children were taken by this pos
This story is practically a carbon copy of the one that formed the basis for the TV-movie "I Know My First Name is Steven," which launched the career of Corin Nemec.
Me too. I was hoping that he took Shawn because he had a crappy childhood and wanted to raise a son differently than him. Considering Shawn's age and the fact that the a$$hole seemed to get a younger model makes me think I am totally wrong. I pray that Shawn can recover and more importantly forgive himself for what he went through. None of it was his fault!!!!! Many victims blame themselves.
Honestly, it is just a sad commentary on how little we know each other these days -- or how little we know our neighbors. It's a commentary on how society is changing and how little prepared we all are for dealing with it. I hope all of you will get to know your surroundings better, if you don't already. I hope you will all be a little more observant and speak up if you see something that you know doesn't feel right. I hope you will encourage your local police departments to get up to speed, as we don't live in "defined" areas anymore. Drug addicts and dealers, certain lifestyles used to live in "certain" neighborhoods. They now may live next door or down the street. Police don't have crystal balls and they must be made to respond when calls and requests come in. They need to take every case seriously and INVESTIGATE.
I was answering another poster who thought that if your 11 you are the same person you will always be . As for reporting fallacies your WRONG !
Devlin did have child porn on his computers ( See the link on Drudge ) Devlin did have 3 guns ( see the link on Drudge )
And YES , they are many DOCUMENTED cases of having a happy childhood , & that the same formerly happy person happened to be raped , beat etc... , & they killed themself because of the abuse !
Fallacies that would be you , I have reporters to back up what I'm saying !
I SHUDDER TO THINK What's on your Computer ?????????????
I think these freepers defending molsters should have they computers checked , they are disgusting !
Tragic! This young man will suffer his whole life because of this. Whatever they do to his kidnapper, it won't be awful enough.
i agree!
"So they have the same right to be a kidnapper and child rapist? How long have you been defending scum like this? Good money in it? Are you proud of it? When it comes to harming a child you have given up your rights."
You stupidity is absolutely overwhelming. I can't believe people like you exist in this country. You are controlled by your emotion and no appreciation of what this country stands for.
I hope you never break a law and get caught. The change in attitude would sicken any clear thinking person.
By the time kid is 5, he understand the concept of trust. By the time a kid is 11, sadly, he now knows the concept of mistrust and fear.
That boy was trying to stay alive.
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.
Wont happen, I was raised right. So I am stupid because I want to see a child rapist fry. Well then I am proud to be stupid in your eyes because anyone who would defend scum is scum in my eyes. Emotions arent a bad thing to have when it comes to protecting the kids. You might want to step away from your constitutional thinking and get back into the real world where there is evil in this world and find a way to eradicate it. Because lib judges love people like you and go out of their way to let scum back on the street.
I think the response is to your post that at age 11, this boy should be able to stand up for himself, think for himself, is already the person that he will grow up to be etc and implies that Shawn is to blame.
If that is what you meant in your post, I also disagree. If that is not what was meant, than your post is clear as mud as to intent.
OH!!
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