Missing boy’s behavior debated

When Oprah Winfrey asked kidnapping victim Shawn Horn­beck on national television Thursday why he didn’t call home or try to escape from the Kirkwood apartment where he was held for four years, his answer was simple: He was terrified.

Jan Stock, executive director of Rainbow House, a Columbia child advocacy organization, said even in cases in which a person has been captured, a victim can become co-dependent on his or her captor.

“There are so many things people say and do to keep the child quiet,” said Stock, who has worked with many abused children. She said it’s wrong to second-guess a child’s behavior in a situation like Hornbeck’s because it’s impossible to know exactly what took place.

Hornbeck, 15, was kidnapped in 2002 and was found in the apartment of Michael J. Devlin on Jan. 12. Police were searching for William “Ben” Ownby, 13, who was kidnapped Jan. 8.

Both children have returned to their families, and no details have been disclosed about their experiences in Devlin’s apartment.

Neighbors of Devlin have told the media Hornbeck rode his bike and skateboard unattended and spent significant time alone while Devlin was at work.

Wayne Anderson, a retired MU psychology professor, said it seems certain a kind of Stockholm Syndrome was in play in the Hornbeck case. Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological condition in which hostages or abused persons form a certain bond to their oppressors. Anderson said there is not enough information about what happened while Hornbeck was at Devlin’s apartment to understand Hornbeck’s psychological state.

Jerry Dunn, director of the Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis, said most people do not understand how skilled perpetrators can be at controlling a situation. She said perpetrators often use fear, terror and threats to psychologically control victims. She said perpetrators will manipulate and exploit vulnerability in victims.

“It’s not unusual for children not to tell because that’s what they believe will keep them safe,” Dunn said. Even when asked directly and without the perpetrator in the picture, half of all abused children will deny the abuse.

What’s even more difficult for people to understand is sometimes, the relationship between a pedophile and a victim isn’t always terrible. Many times the pedophile allows the victim to do things they normally would not be able to, for instance, eating out every night or being allowed to stay up late.

What people handling the Hornbeck case have learned from similar cases is to be protective of the victims, Anderson said. Not pushing for answers too soon from a victim is a way to keep the victim from reliving the experience psychologically, he said.

“You don’t want to re-traumatize,” Anderson said. A lot of the long-term problems victims of pedophiles develop, he said, result from the blow-up following the revelation.