Man Who Held Abducted Boy Prisoner For Four Years Pleads Guilty To The Crime
Posted October 9, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The long strange saga of a boy kidnapped off the streets of his hometown and held for four years has come to an end. Michael Devlin, the man who abducted, sexually abused and kept Shawn Hornbeck as his own son starting in 2002 pleaded guilty to the crime in a Union, Missouri courtroom Tuesday.
The admission comes one day after the 41-year-old conceded his culpability in a similar case. Devlin admitted he abducted 13-year-old Ben Ownby on January 8th, because he “wanted a boy.” By this point, Hornbeck, who was just 11 when he disappeared, was already 15 and may no longer have met the pedophile’s twisted desires.
It was Ownby’s abduction that led police to Devlin’s apartment four days later, after a witness recognized his truck. And that’s where stunned officers also located the long missing Hornbeck, who was taken half a decade earlier while riding his bike in the town of Richwoods. Devlin has admitted to kidnapping, sexual assault and attempted murder. That last count is a surprise – revelations in court show the man wanted to kill Hornbeck but the glib youngster managed to talk him out of it.
And now for the first time, we’ve learned how the predator managed to carry out his final plot against his second target. Prosecutors say when the urge to take another child came over him, the convicted kidnapper spent four months scouting the perfect victim, following school bus after school bus, while carrying duct tape, a brown hooded sweat shirt – and .9mm pistol.
He spotted the Ownby boy leaving his school vehicle in the city of Beaufort and stopped to ask him if he knew a family in the neighbourhood. When the youngster shied away, Devlin grabbed him, shoved him into his car at gunpoint and drove away. When the child asked him why he was doing it, “the defendant said, ‘just because,'” explains prosecutor Bob Parks. The abduction occurred just steps from the boy’s home.
The parents of both children are relieved that Devlin decided to take a plea, meaning the two victims will not have to face their tormentor in court and relate the ways in which he hurt them.
Ownby’s father sat with clenched fists as the facts came out on Monday, barely able to contain his anger as the former pizzeria manager confessed his guilt. “I have no feelings for that person,” Don Ownby noted afterward, adding Devlin never apologized for his actions.
While the legal case is over, the ramifications will last a lot longer. Both kids are expected to need extensive therapy to help them recover from their ordeal.
“This is a predator. This guy is evil. This is evil incarnate,” Parks agreed after Monday’s proceedings. “You will never see anybody worse than this because this is a guy that preys on our kids.” But he won’t be doing it anymore. Devlin received three life sentences plus 60 years in prison for the outrageous crimes. It means he will likely die in prison – he won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 100 years old.
Photo courtesy: Washington County Sheriff’s Department
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Hornbeck had two encounters with police during his time in captivity
