Parents: Innocence Lost For Kidnapped Son

The parents of a teenage boy who had been missing for more than four years believe their son's innocence was lost during the traumatic ordeal.

"It's obvious," Shawn Hornbeck's mother, Pam Akers told Tracy Smith of CBS News' The Early Show. "He's missed out on so many things and he was forced into situations that no one should be forced."

Shawn's parents also believe he was sexually abused by the man accused of kidnapping Shawn, Michael Devlin.

"We can't say for sure, I mean, that would be a logical conclusion," Craig Akers, Shawn's stepfather, said.

He praised Shawn for being so strong throughout the entire experience.

"He is truly a survivor. A lesser person might not have made it. He is so strong," Craig Akers said.

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Watch interview with Shawn Hornbeck's parents.

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Prosecutors said Devlin, who also is charged with kidnapping Shawn but has not yet entered a plea in that case, terrorized Shawn with a handgun to get him to cooperate. Shawn's grandmother said he told her Devlin woke him every 45 minutes in an apparent attempt to control him

During an interview with Oprah Winfrey on a TV show that aired Thursday, Shawn's parents said they have not asked their son about his ordeal on the advice of child advocacy experts.

However, Shawn's parents told The Early Show that Shawn slept as much as he could while in captivity as a way to cope with his pain.

"When he sleeps, it all goes away, you know, it's his escape," Craig Akers said of Shawn.

In a chilling twist, Shawn and his parents may have crossed paths online more than a year ago. Someone going by "Shawn Devlin" visited his parents' online message board and wrote "how long are you planning to look for your son?"

The possibility that they may have unintentionally passed over the message filled Shawn's parents with guilt, they said.

"It's very hard for me to handle that part, knowing that my son was reaching out for me," a tearful Pam Akers told Smith.

Shawn's parents said he wants to help other missing children. "He lived it for 4 1/2 years and he does not want anybody to have to go through it," Pam Akers said.

Shawn, who had dark floppy hair and piercings in his face when he was found, had a cleaner look in a taped interview with Winfrey. He said he always hoped for a reunion with his family.

"If it wasn't for Ben, I might not be here right now," Shawn said. "I'm thankful that he held in there for those few days. I told myself a long time ago I never wanted any kid to go through what I went through."

Shawn said he was not ready to discuss details of his abduction and the subsequent 51 months he spent living with Devlin. Winfrey said the boy told her off-camera that he was "terrified" to contact his parents during the last four years.

Devlin's attorney, Michael Kielty, declined to respond to the claim of sexual abuse, saying he hasn't seen evidence in the case. "The only thing I have is an allegation," he said.

N.G. Berrill, a psychologist and director of the consulting firm New York Forensic and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said it makes sense to look into old cases now that a suspect is in custody.

Devlin "may have tried this before and not known how to pull it off," Berrill said.

He said a serial kidnapper tends to be "an isolated, socially awkward individual ... the kind of person people say that seemed OK and people didn't get to know them.

"He looks like an average Joe," Berrill said. "I suspect he has this need to keep kids. He's sort of collecting children."

Lincoln County, Mo., authorities have called Devlin the "most viable lead" in the case of Charles Arlin Henderson, who was 11 when he disappeared while riding his bike in 1991 and has never been found.

The boy, known as Arlin, was, like Ben and Shawn, about 100 pounds and from a rural town about an hour from St. Louis.

"We can't discount him in an investigation into any missing child," Lt. Rick Harrell said.