Mo. Man Gets 69 Charges Of Sex Abuse
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
CLAYTON, Mo. — A Missouri man accused of kidnapping two boys and holding one for more than four years was charged yesterday with molesting them nearly 70 times.
The charges were the first time authorities have openly accused Michael Devlin of molesting the children.
A 41-year-old pizzeria manager, Mr. Devlin, who had previously been charged with two counts of kidnapping, was charged with 69 counts of forcible sodomy, all felonies and each punishable by up to life in prison.
St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCullough said 18 of the counts related to 13-year-old Ben Ownby, who disappeared January 8, and the remaining counts were related to Shawn Hornbeck, now 15, who was abducted in 2002.
Both boys were found inside Mr. Devlin’s apartment in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood on January 12.
The charges allege that Mr. Devlin forced Ben to have “deviate sexual intercourse” four times each day for the four days he was held.
