Clayton, Mo.
The Missouri pizzeria manager accused of kidnapping two teenage boys and holding them prisoner was charged this week with sexually abusing them. Michael Devlin, 43, faces 69 counts of forcible sodomy, 17 of them for committing “deviate sexual intercourse” with Ben Ownby, 13, who was held for four days in Devlin’s apartment earlier this year. The remaining counts apply to Devlin’s alleged abuse of Shawn Hornbeck, 15, who was Devlin’s captive for four years. Devlin has not entered a plea on the abuse charges, but he “acknowledged committing these acts,” St. Louis County prosecutor Robert McCullough said. Investigators say Hornbeck was so terrorized by Devlin that he helped guard Ownby, sometimes at gunpoint.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Chemnitz: an 'unlikely renaissance' for the 'forgotten' townThe Week Recommends The birthplace of Germany's industrial revolution is hoping to reinvent itself
-
Maha Kumbh Mela: world's largest religious festival gets under way in IndiaIn The Spotlight Politics of Hindu nationalism has cast a shadow over event touted as biggest ever gathering of humanity
-
North Carolina Supreme Court risks undermining its legitimacyUnder the radar A contentious legal battle over whether to seat one of its own members threatens not only the future of the court's ideological balance, but its role in the public sphere
