St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCullough said the charges related to two abductions, although he said he would not disclose the victims' names, in keeping with department policy.
McCullough said 18 of the counts related to an abduction last month, an apparent reference to the Jan. 8 disappearance of 13-year-old Ben Ownby. The remaining counts were related to an abduction several years ago, an apparent reference to Shawn Hornbeck, now 15.
So now, what say you, Bill O'Reilly? Did Shawn Hornbeck just have a blast hanging with his gamer pal, Mike Devlin? Much better than home, ain't it? More on the case from the St. Louis Post Dispatch:
McCulloch said his office based the charges on interviews with the victims and with Devlin, who, he said, "acknowledged committing these acts."
Altogether, McCulloch said, Devlin was charged with one count of kidnapping and 17 counts of forcible sodomy relating to the abduction last month, and a second count of kidnapping and 52 more counts of forcible sodomy relating to the abduction in 2002. Each count carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
He said the kidnapping charges he filed are not substitutes for those already filed in Franklin and Washington counties. He said he filed the St. Louis County kidnapping charges to cover the forcible and continuing restraint of the victims.
"There are two ways to commit kidnapping," he said, citing Missouri law. "One is to take someone from a place where they are located, and another is to restrain them from leaving. That's the purpose of our kidnapping charges."
McCulloch spoke several times of the sensitivity of identifying victims by implication in his statement. He noted that his office rarely identifies the victims of sexual offenses, but he said he had spoken to the families of both victims and that they understood the need to press the charges.
... "The family is relieved that the speculation and the wondering with respect to what happened over four years is now over," Scott Sherman, a lawyer representing Shawn and his family, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
He said Shawn is "absolutely" willing to testify if the case goes to trial.
"I think he's committed to justice, as painful as it might be." ...
Devlin, 41, of Kirkwood, already faces kidnapping charges in the abductions of Hornbeck of Richwoods, Mo., and Ownby of Beaufort, Mo. Washington County charged him in the abduction of Shawn, then 11, while he was riding his bicycle near his home on Oct. 6, 2002.
Franklin County charged Devlin with child kidnapping, which carries a higher penalty, in the abduction of Ben, 13, moments after he stepped off his school bus on Jan. 8. Missouri did not enact the special child-kidnapping law until after Shawn was kidnapped.
Washington County also charged Devlin with armed criminal action, allegedly for having used a handgun in abducting Shawn. Devlin remains in the Franklin County Jail near Union, Mo., on combined bonds of $4 million
Hopefully this guy will soon find himself spending the rest of his life wandering through the general population at the worst prison they've got going in Missouri.
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
