Many thanks Lisa. The very best commentary on this sordid tale. The read damage is to all those abused children in America for whom this story should have given hope.

After the public abuse of SDH what fate can an abused child expect if he finds the courage to seek help? Public abuse from the media's most powerful talking heads and the FOX channel telling the world exactly how many times they were raped.

Shame on America

Lisa,

This was the best, well-written article on this that i have seen. I fully agree with you! The media has tried to turn Shawn into something he isn't. He was simply a scared, abused, embarassed young boy that is finally home. I hope for Shawn sack, the media will stop focusing on him and focus on Devlin and see that he is put away for ever. Shawn is the victim and looks to be a strong boy that will be able to move on with a new life with his family. But it will be a hard road ahead, as it is for any abuse victim.


Robert

Thank you, Lisa, for one of the best comments on this sordid case I have read. Your reasoned discourse is a welcome change from the unreasonable, spiteful drivel that has been all too common in other reports. I can only hope this case, along with those of Elizabeth Smart and Natasha Kampusch, will give impetus to change the training given to law enforcement officials. I also hope the attention given this case and the numerous cases of children being rescued from horrible home situations will increase awareness of how widespread hidden abuse is so our communities can act to better protect our children.

You are completely correct, and Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera owe Shawn and his family a public, unequivocal apology for their comments insinuating otherwise.

Some Shawn old enought to AOL chat participated in a FEMA discussion which included the possibility that a direct Internet (AOL) FEMA menu be made available so that intensive website search could be bypassed during actual emergency. Of course, abduction so that he might "cry out in his anger..." and demand such instant-message pull-down menu was not the intent.

This is by far the best story I have read on this case. I agree 100%.

I totally agree with this article. Besides, how could Shawn be considered a racist, when his best friend from the apartment complex was black?

Lisa i commend u on ur most balanced and realistic article about shawn hornbeck.I feel this article should be widely published on mainline media,so that it opens the eyes and minds of those one track minded illogical critics of poor boy shawn.I believe that even if theres any thing wrong which shawn did it was solely due to his captor devlin..what can u expect from a boy who was just 11 when kidnapped and traumatised ,abused and brainwashed by a devil of a man.This rapist kidnapper should be made to pay for every day that shawn was with him..well done Lisa

PLEASE!!!! No more stories on this case. Everyone and I mean everyone is putting their two cents in and the trial isn't over yet. Would the media just shut up already and let Shawn live in peace. Does he have to see another story with his name in it? For goodness sakes, I am so tired of reading about this case. Nobody has said anything new. Not even in this story. I've hear this point of view before, I've hear them all!!!

Hey reporters... Please just shut up. shut up already and give Shawn a break. Let him rest.

This is WRONG WRONG WRONG. Those photos are NOT of Shawn Hornbeck! The media has to stop publishing them and claiming they are! *sigh* Add to that, in cases like this, typically the captor has threatened the child with killing them or worse if they tell anyone, and/or killing their families if they ever tell anyone. It doesn't matter that to an adult not in the situation, it still obviously makes sense to tell someone and get the police involved. To the child, this adult is overwhelmingly powerful and they don't want to be the cause of harm to their families (or themselves), and they do everything they can just to survive. Worse yet, these monsters often DO hunt down the families or victims and kill them if they escape, especially deranged ex-husbands and ex-boyfriends, and the legal measures in place are not enough to protect those women and families.

Oh pooh! Why are you trying to inject some socio-political-racial liberal/leftie commentary into Shawn wearing gang gear. He's not doing anything that any lower middle class or working class kid would do. With yesterday's masculine heros like Cowboys or American Indians emasculated by political correctness and lunatic liberalism, young men basically grasp at whatever masculine images are left as "politically correct", which is black RAP culture.

These images have little value on the nature of Shawn's relationship with Devlin, other then aside from the bizarre circumstances of his coming to live with Devlin, and the speculation on the power relationships that included sexual acts, Shawn dressed up in gang-bang is pretty normal.

If anyone is a culprit in this, it might be Shawn's parents, for confirming to the world audience on Oprah that Shawn had been the sexual partner of Devlin for his entire capture. YOu might add in that silly monument to narcissism, Oprah, for being so unseemly as to even ask the question.

It seems to me that you're not applying the same critic to the Shawn's Parent, or Oprah Windfrey that you've applied to the media.

Which of course, shows a cultural bias that renders your point of view pretty much out-of-step with the rest of us.

David - for someone decrying political correctness I think it's pretty disgraceful that you'd use the term 'sexual partner' when describing this boy's ordeal.

OMG!!! here we go again!! PLEASE!!! Not another website with bitchy, argumentative points of view back and forth. Ya know, since this case has come out there has not be ONE new story or topic or argument or fight or whatever. I've gone on about a dozen blogs and they all sound the same. All the arguments for and against are the same. Everyone points out the same evidence and the same this and that and everyone bitches back and forth about the same topics, points of view, and so on.

Listen If you want to help Shawn. Please, Please just don't keep the media fever going or these blogs going. Please let Shawn rest.

People give it a rest. There is nothing new to say!

I grew up in a very disfunctional home where my mother abused me every chance she got when my dad was at work or just gone out of the house .. she threatened me if I told anyone, that it would be worse the next time .. I tried to get away from her and ran away from home even at the age of 6 .. If there was child protective services back when I was a child , [ in the 50's ] I wasnt aware of it .. My point is., I was threatened and terrorized and beat when I was growing up and tried to escape and eventually succeeded .. so I have a problem with Shawn not ever, not even once trying to escape .. I think if I would have met a Mike Devlin when I was in the middle of all that abuse I was suffering., I would have gone with him in a heartbeat and lived with him ..
as far as the sexual abuse that the boys allegedly endured with Devlin., for that [ if its true ] I am so sorry for them .. IF on the other hand, that's not REALLY the case and the parents pressured the boys to admiting something that never happened , in order at least in Hornbecks case to excuse him of his own behaviour for not trying to excape ., then my pity falls on Devlin .. It seems that everyone wants to blame Devlin for every missing child in america .. Why didnt Devlin kill Shawn if he's a killer ? I think more will come that will surprise many in this case ..

Rebecca, I'm sorry for the pain you suffered as a child, but that doesn't excuse making up facts and speculating without facts. We don't know if Shawn tried to escape early on. The facts as reported are clear that the parents did not force the "boys to admiting something that never happened"; the prosecutor has made clear there is no doubt the children are victims. I'm not sure where you got the idea that "everyone wants to blame Devlin for every missing child in america," but that too is inaccurate. Investigators are, appropriately, looking into a few cases. I suspect this case has reopened unhealed wounds for you; I hope you find the help you need to heal.

Haven't really made up my mind about several aspects of this case. But that aside, I did want to say.....We don't know for sure that Shawn never tried to escape. All we DO know is that he didn't succeed.

Thanks so much for your article Lisa. It was very well written.

I AM A SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIM MYSELF ITS NOT AS EASY TO GET AWAY FROM THESE KIND OF PEOPLE AS YOU THINK IT MAY BE.I WASNT TAKEN FROM MY FAMILY BUT PEOPLE LIKE THEM CAN MAKE U FEEL VERY SAMLL AND ANYONE PASSING JUDGEMENT ON THESE POOR KIDS NEEDS TO STEP BACK AND LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND TAKE A LONG LOOK AND REALIZE WHAT KIND OF PERSON YOU ARE . AND TO LISA GREAT ARTICLE ON THIS CASE FINALLY SOMEONE WITH SOME REAL INSIGHT INTO LIFE.