Why Shawn Hornbeck Did Not Escape
It was a shocking discovery that prompted an emotional response from even the veteran police officers who made it. Looking for a boy who had been kidnapped four days earlier, they found another boy who had been missing for four years. But the miraculous recovery of the missing teen immediately raised as many questions as it answered.
On January 12, 2007, the investigation into the disappearance of a 13-year-old Missouri boy, who was last seen four days before getting off the school bus, resulted in the discovery of Shawn Hornbeck, 15, in an apartment near St. Louis.
Police serving an arrest warrant in an apartment complex for another person, spotted a white pickup truck that matched the description of one being sought in the disappearance of Ben Ownby, who was last seen near his home in Beaufort, Missouri, about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis.
Why Didn't He Escape?
When police served a search warrant on the apartment of Michael Devlin, listed as the owner of the pickup truck, they found Ben Ownby along with Hornbeck, who disappeared in October 2002 while riding his bike in Richwoods, Missouri, about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis.
Immediately questions were raised as to how Devlin was able to hold Shawn Hornbeck for four years without him being about to get away. Why didn't he run away? Why didn't he reach out for help?
This week, as Michael Devlin pleaded guilty in four different courtrooms to charges related to kidnapping and assaulting the two boys, the answers to those questions were revealed.
Shortly after Devlin kidnapped Hornbeck, back in 2002, he planned to kill the boy after repeatedly sexually assaulting him. He took Shawn back to Washington County in his pickup truck, he pulled him from the truck and began to strangle him.
Deal With the Devil
"I attempted to kill (Shawn) and he talked me out of it," Devlin said. He stopped choking the boy and sexually assaulted him again. In what prosecutors called a "deal with the devil" Shawn told Devlin at that time that he would do whatever Devlin wanted him to do to stay alive.
"We know now the details that made him not run away," said Shawn's stepfather, Craig Akers.
Over the years, Devlin used many methods to control Shawn. The details of the abuse Shawn endured are so horrific and graphic it was not released by most media outlets, although the reports were readily available. Devlin admitted to making pornographic photographs and videotapes of Shawn and taking him across state lines to engage in sex acts.
To continue to control Shawn, Devlin took him with him when he abducted Ben Ownby in January 2007, telling Shawn that because he was in the truck he was an accomplice to the crime.
Shawn Protected Ben Ownby
Authorities said Shawn was a hero, who tried to protect Ben Ownby from the torture that he had to endure. Devlin told Shawn that he planned to kill Ownby after keeping him a short time.
"I think that Shawn Hornbeck is really a hero," Ethan Corlija, one of Devlin's attorneys, told reporters. "He really threw himself on the sword many times so Ben would not have to go through any undue torture."
Over the past four days, Devlin entered guilty pleas to dozens and dozens of charges in four different courts. At last count, he received 74 life sentences to run consecutively, which will keep him in prison the rest of his life.
"We're just so glad this is the outcome, that the monster is caged and will remain caged," said Craig Akers.
See Also:
Mo. Boy's Years of Manipulation, Abuse
Prosecutors: Boy Had to Make 'Deal With the Devil' to Survive
Earlier Articles:
DA: Missouri Kidnapper to Plead Guilty
Michael Devlin Linked to More Missing Boys?
Michael Devlin Turns Down Plea Deal
Missouri Kidnapper Faces Porn Charges
Devlin Faces 69 Counts of Sodomy
Two Missing Missouri Boys Found
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Discuss The Devlin Case
Comments
Why are we not teaching, training, strengthening our young kids that NOTHING is worth making a deal with such a devil like this young boy lived through. Why can we not empower our young people to know and feel and see that they are more strength within themselves than the wicked, sick,depraved minds & lives people like Devlin perpetuate!
I cant help it, I think Hornbeck liked it there.
The fact that Shawn survived means he did everything right.
How can anyone be so stupid as to say he liked it or that it was not worth making a “deal with the devil” What is your life worth to you. It was obey or die. And if he was caught trying to escape he would have been killed why is that hard to understand?
Steve you are a moron
Steve your mind is nothing but a piece of $h#t how can you say that, maybe you’ve been through that too and you liked it thats why you said that based on experience. Or maybe you have children who have lived that experience and they confesed you they liked it.
What would you do at age 11 if a big fat f@#### takes full control of you.
unbelievable how someone could even let something like, he liked it there,come out their mouth. Sign of a sick mind
Thig is, Steve is probably laughing his ass off at all these angry comments. You see, he is like Devlin a psychopath and they thrive on negative attention.
To fully appreciate the full torture, mental, physical and emotional that this young boy went through, one would have to experience it oneself, especially as this lad was developing in these areas, and his responses and thinking patterns have been shaped by his experiences. Shawn has shown tremendous strength in these areas to have not only survived, but protected another victim as much as he could. Anyone who believes otherwise obviously does not think beyond the surface and has no imagination of concept of empathy.
I’m sorry but part of me agrees with Steve.
I don’t know if Shawn really liked it there but honestly, why didn’t he escape?
He had so many chances!
There are pictures of him on trips with the next door neighbors, playing video games, smiling and laughing.
He was even brought home by police 3 separate times with the kid next door for being out after dark! Devlin was no where around…scream out who you are!
He had video games, new bikes and even his own cell phone! He was left at home all day while Devlin was at work…pick up the phone and call someone!
I’m glad he is home safe, I just think he could have been home a lot sooner, Devlin would have been in jail years before he had the chance to kidnap another child.