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February 06, 2007
Devlin charged with sexual assault
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch today announced kidnapping and forcible sodomy charges against Michael Devlin, who was arrested last month in the recovery of two boys who had been kidnapped four years apart.
McCulloch did not name the victims during his announcement, as is common in such cases. But he acknowledged that other charges against Devlin have been filed in the kidnapping of Shawn Hornbeck in 2002 and Ben Ownby last month.
"We recognize that overall their identities are not a national secret," McCulloch told a news conference in Clayton, "and it makes it difficult for us to file these charges."
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.
Under normal circumstances, the Post-Dispatch would not identify such victims either.
"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."
In a written statement, defense attorneys Ethan Corlija and Michael Kielty said they have explained the charges to Devlin and that he understands they are "very serious."
"We have also told Mr. Devlin that we have received no evidence from any of the prosecutors about any of the charges," the statement said.
"Common sense and the Constitution would suggest that everyone should wait to hear any evidence before reaching any final judgment."
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.
Richwoods, in Washington County, is about 40 miles southeast of Beaufort, in Franklin.
Officers found the two boys in Devlin's apartment, in the 400 block of Holmes Avenue, on Jan. 12 -- the same day Devlin was arrested and charged with kidnapping Ben. Washington County filed its charges the following week, on Jan. 17.
Investigators said Devlin confessed to having abducted Ben, although he has pleaded not guilty of the charge. Devlin's lawyers also filed pleas of not guilty on his behalf in Washington County.
Federal investigators continue to investigate the cases, as well as assist local deputies in reviewing other unsolved disappearances of children.
Devlin grew up in Webster Groves, having graduated from Webster Groves High School in 1984, and has worked at Imo's Pizza locations since he was 16. Officers took him into custody from the Imo's in downtown Kirkwood, where he had been working.
In Missouri, kidnapping carries a maximum penalty of 15 years, while child kidnapping has a maximum of life in prison.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/laworder/story/A123E06A54904FFD86257279005C4671?OpenDocument
Posted by Nealus at February 6, 2007 06:59 AM
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