Today, forced sodomy charges were brought against Michael Devlin, the sick, pizza makin’ mother-fucker who abducted Shawn Hornbeck and little Ben Ownby. The details come out as the blogosphere has been on fire with accusations and uniformed opinions as to why Shawn Hornbeck didn’t escape, given all his opportunities. I have read many of these small minded criticisms of the victim himself, with many holding the caveat that they will gladly eat crow if they are found to be wrong. Most notably, Bill O’Reilly who has been an outspoken critic of Shawn Hornbecks presumable compliance with his captor.

Well, get ready to eat it assholes.

I don’t think it’s much of a leap to believe that Shawn was blackmailed. These poor boys, even in their “miracle” of being rescued, this has got to be so humiliating for them. How do you think Ben Ownby’s friends are going to act towards him? How are kids in general going to act towards him? You know how cruel kids can be.

The details will make your stomach turn.

From The Guardian Unlimited:

Devlin, a 41-year-old pizzeria manager who had previously been charged with two counts of kidnapping, was charged with 69 counts of forcible sodomy, all felonies and each punishable by up to life in prison.

St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCullough said 18 of the counts related to an abduction last month, and the remaining counts were related to an abduction several years ago, apparent references to the Jan. 8 disappearance of 13-year-old Ben Ownby and the 2002 kidnapping of Shawn Hornbeck, now 15.

For the four days he was held, Ben was molested four times a day, prosecutors said.

Both boys were found inside Devlin’s apartment in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood on Jan. 12.

McCullough said the evidence includes interviews with all of the people involved. “Devlin acknowledged committing these acts,” McCullough said.

Forbes report that Ben was forced into sex 17 times during his 4 day abduction:

St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCullough said 17 of the counts related to 13-year-old Ben Ownby, who disappeared Jan. 8, and the remaining counts were related to Shawn Hornbeck, now 15, who was abducted in 2002.

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I’ll admit that I’m quite the pessimist and did not anticipate a good outcome when Ben Ownby was abducted several days ago. And now it’s being reported that not only did this story have the happy ending of him being found alive, but also the amazing news that they also found Shawn Damian Hornbeck, a boy that was last seen over four years ago. Holy Deep End of the Ocean! From CNN.com:

Two missing St. Louis-area boys, one of them missing since 2002, were found alive in a Kirkwood, Missouri, apartment, and a suspect was arrested, Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke said Friday.

Shawn Damian Hornbeck, 15, of Richwoods, Missouri, was last seen riding his bike to a friend’s house in October 2002. Richwoods is about 60 miles south of St. Louis.

The man found with the boys, Michael J. Devlin, 41, was arrested and charged with only one count of kidnapping, but certainly charges regarding Shawn’s abduction are to follow shortly.

I can’t even imagine the emotion that their families — especially the Hornbecks — must be experiencing right now. I wish them all the best, and in this instance am extremely glad my “half-empty” view of life was completely wrong.

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UPDATE TO THIS STORY HERE

You would think a middle schooler could ride a school bus to and from school without worry of being abducted. One might think that a 13-year-old boy can surely run away, use clever tactics and fight off an offender and scream his way out of a scary situation, right? For Ben Ownby, the fear must have overtaken him in the small town in Missouri where he vanished, perhaps he was just too naive for his own good, or I’m just plain wrong about my assumptions. Whatever the reason, let this add yet another burden of worry to the tremendous amount of anxiety and fear I already feel on a day-to-day basis. Frozen concern is something that comes naturally to me as it is, but you hear about a young tween being randomly taken and it’s enough to make you grab your chest.

Perhaps details will surface that will suggest that this isn’t what it seems to be after all — an angry relative or a revengeful parent took the boy and he is now watching Yu-Gi-Oh GX, stuffing his face with Pez candies and getting out of homework — I hate to think of the alternative. If not, I have a sinking feeling this isn’t going to turn out well. Not well at all.

From myfoxdc.com:

Boy, 13, Missing And Feared Kidnapped

By CHRISTOPHER LEONARD
Associated Press Writer

BEAUFORT, Mo. — The search resumed Tuesday for a 13-year-old boy feared abducted after getting off a school bus near his rural eastern Missouri home.
William “Ben” Ownby was last seen around 4:15 p.m. Monday near Missouri Route 50 in Beaufort, an unincorporated town about 60 miles southwest of St. Louis. An Amber alert was issued Tuesday as the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI were joined by dozens of volunteers in the search.

Ben and a friend got off the bus after attending middle school in nearby Union, then separated. Ben’s friend told authorities he looked back minutes later to see a white pickup truck with a camper shell in an apparent hurry, backing into a ditch briefly before speeding away.

Ben’s father, William Ownby, said the abduction came “out of the blue,” and he couldn’t imagine why anyone would be motivated to take his son.

Ownby described Ben as a straight-A student, a Boy Scout who loves to play computer games. He said the boy was dropped off every day at the same bus stop, about 500 feet from their home in a wooded neighborhood.

Picture of William (Ben) Ownby, age 13, abducted off the school bus

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