Prosecutors said on Tuesday in a Missouri court that a video revealing the torture one of two rural Missouri boys endured at the hands of their abductor underlines why he should die in prison following his guilty plea to more than 80 counts, including sexual assault, kidnapping and attempted murder.
Michael Devlin offered no apologies but shed light on why one of his victims stayed with him more than four years after boy convinced Devlin to spare his life just as Devlin was beginning to strangle him.
"This boy made this contract, this deal with the devil, only to survive," Washington County prosecutor John Rupp said.
During the hearing, Devlin admitted in graphic detail how he abducted Shawn Hornbeck in 2002 and described the point at which Shawn apparently turned from a kidnap victim into a powerless captive, while several feet away Shawn's parents wept.
After the boy, then 11, was abducted at gunpoint while riding his bike in rural Washington County, Devlin took him to his apartment in suburban St. Louis and repeatedly sexually assaulted him. Days later, Devlin took Shawn back to Washington County in his pickup truck, apparently intent on killing the boy.
He said he pulled Shawn from his truck and began to strangle him. Shawn resisted. "I attempted to kill (Shawn) and he talked me out of it," Devlin said Tuesday.
Devlin stopped the choking, but then sexually assaulted the boy again. Prosecutors say it was at that point that Shawn told Devlin he would do whatever was asked of him to stay alive.
Devlin abducted the second boy early this year, days before both victims were discovered alive in his apartment in a St. Louis suburb.
Devlin received dozens of life sentences after his pleas in Washington and St. Louis counties Tuesday. He pleaded guilty in Franklin County on Monday and is to appear in federal court on Wednesday.
Devlin said through his attorneys he accepted his punishment because he knew what he did was wrong -- a statement quickly dismissed by prosecutors and the boys' families.
"He pleaded guilty because he does not want the world to know the full extent of what he did," said St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCulloch.
At the St. Louis County hearing, prosecutors said Devlin kept Shawn tied for weeks to a futon or a couch, with duct tape over his mouth. Devlin left the boy alone when he went to work at the pizzeria during the days and returned at night to sexually assault him.
Prosecutors said Devlin also made a videotape of himself torturing Shawn.
Devlin abducted Ben Ownby in rural Franklin County on Jan. 8. A schoolmate's tip about a white pickup truck helped lead authorities to Devlin's apartment, where Ben and Shawn were rescued Jan. 12 as Devlin, a pizzeria manager, worked the day shift at his shop.
Prosecutors said Devlin abused Ben every day before the boy was rescued.
Source:Xinhua/agencies
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