Experts: Mo. boy controlled by captor

[Herman Munster]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16461183.htm

KIRKWOOD, Mo. - For more than four years, Shawn Hornbeck seemed to have had every chance to escape, left alone for hours to ride his bike, play video games and walk past missing-child posters showing his own age-progressed image.

But mental health experts say this troubling case is hardly so simple, and that Hornbeck was likely kept mentally shackled by terror and domination from the man accused of kidnapping him, 41-year-old Michael Devlin.

"I think it's a real mistake to judge this child. Whatever he did to this point to stay alive is to his credit," said Terri Weaver, an associate psychology professor at Saint Louis University.

Weaver, an expert on post traumatic stress disorder, said children in such situations kick into survival mode, "doing what needs to be done to keep yourself going day-to-day."

Devlin, a 300-pound pizza parlor manager, is accused of abducting Hornbeck four years ago when the slight boy, taken as he was riding his bike, was just 11. Now a gangly 15-year-old with floppy hair and a pierced lip, he was found by surprise Friday when police acting on a tip went to Devlin's modest-two-bedroom apartment in this St. Louis suburb to rescue 13-year-old Ben Ownby, who had been snatched four days earlier on his way home from school.

Now investigators are piecing together the details of Hornbeck's captivity and Ownby's abduction, trying to discover how the boys could have been kept captive in an apartment where neighbors often heard banging, shouting and arguing.

[wakeme2008]

1. Sorry the boy didn't want to go home...

Out riding his bike and with his own cell phone. All the head thumbers excuses just

[madeline_con]

3. My own son was kidnapped by his father.....

taken to another country.

My parents happened to live in that other country (that's where I met my 1st husband).


Anyway, my son rode his bike around town, waved at Grandpa, but did'nt dare stop by to visit, for fear Grandpa might get in trouble. Broke Grandpa's heart....

[democrank]

10. Stockholm Syndrome

The child was only ELEVEN when he was abducted. He has stated that he was told he would be killed if he ever revealed the truth. There are many documented cases of kidnapping victims identifying with their captors.

Stockholm Syndrome:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome

[wakeme2008]

11. At 11 yes but by

15 with his own cell phone... I do not buy the Stockhom Syndrome...

[democrank]

15. I`m not going to blame the victim.

He was eleven when abducted, kept out of school, obviously had his emotional maturation stymied during this trauma, may have been depressed, definitely was threatened.

I`m glad that mental health professionals and trained law enforcement folks have taken time to publically explain how captivity can impact a child`s decision making in a traumatic situation like this.

[Rex]

18. Could have been brainwashed.

We have no idea what the man did to him for 4 years.

[LanternWaste]

20. Many times, the terror that a person feels becomes internalized...

Many times, the terror that a person feels becomes internalized to the point in which it actually becomes part and parcel of who they are.

There are a lot of children who are abused, molested, raped, etc. by their own parents but don't call the authorities because they don't want to "get in trouble". Not just pre-teens, but kids who are 15, 16 and older.

There are wives who are constantly abused by their husbands and have ample time to leave/escape but don't.

I'm curious... you said you don't buy the Stockholm Syndrome. Do you have anything substantive or some past experience that you base this opinion on?

[Little Star]

24. Well, you now have something in common with

Bill O'Reilly.

[hang a left]

21. Not to mention that age is such a critical developmental period

for children. That boy was completely brainwashed. It will takes years of treatment to reverse the damamge. The family and the boy is lucky, (if there is such a word involving such a horrific act)that he was found at 15, another critical developmental period. Hopefully all the damage can be healed through therapy and a loving family.

[Heidi]

12. Steven Stayner was held for seven years, escaping when he was 14.

By his kidnapper's own estimation, Steven Stayner was raped more than 3,000 times between the ages of seven and 14, yet he didn't attempt to run away until he was 14 years old and his captor had abducted a five-year-old child. I don't think it's rational to expect adult-level rational thinking from kids in these cruel and irrational circumstances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Stayner

Edit for spelling.

[GumboYaYa]

22. Well you and Bill O'Reilly agree...not exactly the best company to be in!

The hell this poor child went through is unimaginable, just based on the limited details that have come out. He was taken at gun point and physically and sexually tortured into compliance. Devlin didn't let him sleep more than 45 minutes at a time when he first took him (in lieu of drugging the child). Devlin is a monster and when people spew the vicious opinion that Shawn liked it or chose to stay with Devlin, they do nothing but help add to the injuries suffered by that child.

Did you know that you are basically giving the typical pedophile argument that sexual abuse of a child is okay?

If I had written the posts you have written, I would be begging Skinner to remove them now.

[H2O Man]

23. silly n/t

[madeline_con]

2. This story is so freaky.....

I hope the kids are o.k. and can have a normal life. :(

[Fridays Child]

4. Why is Devlin's weight newsworthy?

Did being fat contribute to his criminal behavior? x(

[Bluebear]

5. I think they are contrasting a 300# man vs. a thin 11 year old boy. nt

[Divine Discontent]

6. you beat me to it!

you always do it seems... I always see your name when I want to advise a comment...

yeah, they were saying, if your captor is 3 times your size, you tend to fear what he may do if you flee, or to your family..... if he was older when he was abducted he woulda fled I really believe... but 11 or younger, gosh, when I was that age, I woulda been MORTIFIED of the person who took me and scared and obeyed their orders. I'm happy for them, and I realllllly don't think they should be going on oprah.. but that's just me... (let the kids be normal, not plastered all over the TV for everyone to see them and say, oh you're the boy who was abducted!)

[MonkeyFunk]

7. It's not what I would choose

in such a situation (the publicity) but I think I understand some of their reasoning.


First of all, I think they were truly grateful to the all the people who helped them during the ordeal and wanted to express it publicly.

But more importantly, I think they wanted to give hope to other families in the same situation.

I won't fault them for either of those reasons. The whole family has been through something I can't even begin to imagine, and they seem to have done it with a level of grace and equanimity I'll never achieve. So I say let'em handle it any way they want.

[Fridays Child]

9. Maybe you're right but...

...if that's the author's point, the comparison is irrelevant. Virtually any adult would have a size and weight advantage over an eleven year old child. And, for many people, gratuitous remarks about how much people like Michael Devlin weigh only reinforce the bias our society harbors against overweight people.

Devlin deserves condemnation, to be sure, but not because of his weight.

[Rex]

19. Because big people are evil and thin people are innocent?

I asked myself the same question.

[OneBlueSky]

8. you have to remember that this kid was abducted when he was 11 years old . . .

just at the cusp of puberty, which is always a confusing time in a young man's life . . . his captor had months and years to feed him any number of lies and and stories and in effect create a new reality for him completely divorced from "Shawn Hornbeck" . . . and who knows what kinds of things he talked the kid into doing in exchange for rewards and better treatment . . .

it's entirely possible that by the time Shawn saw the poster with his photos, the person he was seeing was someone from a past life entirely unrelated to his current reality . . . by that time, he may also have been too embarassed and/or ashamed to return home, for whatever reason . . .

whatever happened to this kid, it's going to take a lot of time and counseling to get him right . . . he's at least four years behind educationally, and who knows how far behind his peers socially and emotionally . . . I'm really glad that he's home, but his journey is far from over . . .

[xchrom]

13. i feel so bad for this child.

i cannot imagine how he has ordered his world -- his place in it.

but certainly he cannot see himself as being in control.

and that's tragic in and of itself -- but that goes far deeper than just issues of self esteem and and control of one's own life.

it will take years of some very careful and expert therapy to work these issues out.

[partylessinOhio]

14. These boys should not be the object of speculation of what may or may not

have happened to them while being captive.

The parents should have enough sense to keep the boys OFF tv and let them return to their lives in private.

Shawn's mother and stepfather look a little weird to me. The stepfather appeared in the same red shirt for a few days. He seems to enjoy being in front of cameras. I have some gut level doubts about them as parents.

I felt very sorry for both boys as they appeared before the media and their cameras. How do you supposed they felt? I could not believe that the various law enforcements approved of parading the boys like this.

Now that there seems to be some who are blaming the victims - this is really sick.

[Catherine Vincent]

16. How could this perv Devlin get away with what he did for so long?

Because he was quiet and kept to himself?

[SoCalDem]

17. Shame on the press for "exploring" to gory details ad infinitum

"What happened in that apartment?"

WHO THE F NEEDS TO KNOW..not US..not people outside the family.

Those boys need to be in therapy IMMEDIATELY, and the press needs to STFU..

If that kid was MY kid, i think I would change the family name and move far away, so that he might have a chance to start a new life.

That's impossible for a kid whose mug is on TV 24-7, while nosey strangers muse about "what happened to him for all those years"..

:grr: