Parents Suspect Abducted Son Was Abused

The parents of a kidnapped Missouri boy said Thursday they believe their son was molested during the four years he was missing, and his grandmother claimed his captor had awakened the boy every 45 minutes, apparently as a way to control him.

The comments came the same day the man suspected of snatching 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck in 2002 pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping another boy on Jan. 8.

Michael Devlin, a 41-year-old pizzeria manager, was accused of taking 13-year-old Ben Ownby just after he got off the school bus in Beaufort. A schoolmate's tip about a white pickup truck helped lead authorities to Devlin's suburban St. Louis apartment and to the dramatic rescue of both boys on Jan. 12.

Prosecutors said Devlin, who also is charged with kidnapping Hornbeck, terrorized the boy with a handgun to get him to cooperate.

Devlin's attorneys said Thursday that they may ask for a change of venue, reports CBS News correspondent Tracy Smith.

"There's no way we can get a fair trial in this county due to the amount of attention it's gotten," attorney Michael Kielty said.

The case has prompted authorities to investigate Devlin in cases involving two missing boys and one girl in eastern Missouri dating back to 1988.

During an interview with Oprah Winfrey on a show that aired Thursday, Hornbeck's parents said they have not asked their son what happened on the advice of child advocacy experts.

"OK, I'm going to go there and ask you, what do you think happened? Do you think he was sexually abused?" Winfrey asked Hornbeck's parents, Craig and Pam Akers.

Both nodded and said, "Yes."

While it is CBS News' policy not to identify alleged victims of sexual abuse in most cases, Hornbeck's case has been widely publicized and his name is well-known. Also, the family has gone public, conducting several national interviews.

Hornbeck's grandmother, Anna Quinn of St. Louis, told the AP on Thursday that the boy has not spoken Devlin's name and that he has said little to relatives about what he went through. But Hornbeck did tell his family that at times during his captivity, he would be awakened every 45 minutes by his captor.

"Think to yourself when you don't get enough sleep," Quinn said. "He had to do something to get his cooperation."

Hornbeck, 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," Hornbeck 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."

Hornbeck 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.

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 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 Ownby and Hornbeck, about 100 pounds and from a rural town about an hour from St. Louis.

After 16 years, Henderson's mother is hoping for answers, reports Smith.

"Oh my God, Arlin could come home or I could know," said Debra Henderson-Griffith.

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