Report: Child Pornography Found on Missouri Kidnap Suspect's Computer

Child pornography was found on the home computer of Missouri man accused of kidnapping two Missouri teenagers, the New York Post reported Monday.

Citing unnamed law-enforcement officials, the paper reported that the find could lead to federal child-pornography charges for Michael Devlin, the 41-year-old, 300-pound pizza-parlor manager arrested in connection with the kidnappings of Shawn Hornbeck, 15, and William Ownby, 13.

Devlin is being held in lieu of $1 million bond. He was awaiting arraignment on one charge of kidnapping but more charges are likely, authorities said.

Devlin's lawyer refused to discuss details of the case Monday. The lawyer, Michael Kielty, said he has not seen any evidence and will enter a not guilty plea at the arraignment. Kielty said he would not seek a reduction in bond; he did not say why.

Click here to read the New York Post report.

Hornbeck disappeared 4 1/2 years ago while on a bike ride near his Richwoods, Mo., home, about an hour from Devlin's apartment complex in Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis. Ownby had been missing for four days.

The Post reported that while Hornbeck had been missing, he had an active life on social networking sites on the Internet, including profiles on Yahoo! and MindViz.com, where the boy called himself "Shawn the pumpkin king."

Click here to view the MindViz profile.

The site includes a photo of the boy, prompting the Post to report a message left on the site suggested Devlin may have allegedly used the profile to lure young boys.

There are Internet signs though, that hint Hornbeck or Devlin might have tried to contact the boy's parents via a Web site set up to look for the missing child.

On ShawnHornbeck.com, a "Shawn Devlin" from Kirkwood signed the guestbook on Dec. 1, 2005, with two messages. The first asked "how long are you planing [sic] to look for your son?" and the second wondered if he could write a poem in Shawn Hornbeck's honor.

Hornbeck's stepfather, Craig Akers, told FOX News that Shawn had spoken to the family only briefly about his ordeal.

"We're not pressing Shawn, we're not asking Shawn questions, we're not grilling Shawn. When Shawn wants to talk about it, Shawn will," Akers said Sunday. "There have been a few small conversations, but really, anything detail-wise, we really don't know."

But Akers said fear had kept Hornbeck from escaping.

"You can be physically restrained somewhere and you can be mentally restrained somewhere," Akers said. "From what we understand, Shawn believes that if he had tried to get away, tried to alert anyone to his situation, that he would be killed.

"When you get that ingrained in someone's head, they're not going to act the same way that you and I do," he added.

Mental-health experts say it is too early to pass judgment on Hornbeck.

"I think it's a real mistake to judge this child. Whatever he did to this point to stay alive is to his credit," said Terri Weaver, an associate psychology professor at Saint Louis University.

Weaver, an expert on post traumatic stress disorder, said children in such situations kick into survival mode, "doing what needs to be done to keep yourself going day-to-day."

Stephen Golding, a forensic psychologist who examined the suspect in the Smart case, said captors often establish control over their victims through fear.

"People are led to believe, through someone taking advantage of their vulnerabilities, that leaving is not an option, that things will get worse for them or will get worse for others," Golding said.

Ownby is only talking with FBI counselors, according to an uncle.

"No one's pushing him at this point to answer these questions," said Lloyd Bailie on CBS' "Early Show" Monday. "The biggest concern right now is all of the media coverage ... that somebody's going to ask the wrong question. ... [But] at this point, everyone has been very respectful of Ben and his family."

Bailie said the first thing Ben asked for when he was returned to his family was a snack. Then he asked to play video games.

"It's just amazing that this just had such a great ending," Bailie said.

Also Monday, one of the officers who arrested Devlin said he knew the man even before he began staking out his home: He had eaten at the pizza parlor he managed.

"Obviously we were shocked. He was a very laid-back and quiet individual so it kind of threw us for a loop also," police office Gary Wagster said on the CBS program.

Wagster got involved Thursday when he and his partner noticed that Devlin's truck matched the description of one seen speeding from the site of Ben's disappearance on Jan. 8.

The officers questioned Devlin in the parking lot, and said he was initially friendly and cooperative. But his demeanor quickly changed when the officers started asking him specific questions, Wagster said. He became agitated and defensive.

"It was a total 180 degrees from where he was," Wagster said.

With red flags raised, Wagster reported the find to FBI agents and Franklin County sheriff's deputies who were leading the hunt for Ben.

When agents arrived Thursday evening, Devlin wouldn't let them into his apartment, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation, who refused to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

By the time Devlin left for work Friday morning, police had staked out his apartment and the FBI agents were investigating him. When agents entered Devlin's modest-two-bedroom apartment in this St. Louis suburb, they found Ben and Shawn.

Authorities at first didn't recognize Shawn, who disappeared at age 11 while on a bike ride but was now a gangly 15-year-old with floppy hair and a pierced lip. He told them his identity when agents entered the apartment.

Authorities won't say how Devlin kept the boys confined in his home or what they believe to be his motive. Shawn seemed to have had every chance to escape during his captivity. He was left alone for hours to ride his bike, play video games and walk past missing-child posters showing his own age-progressed image.

Devlin was raised in the St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves and got a job at the pizza parlor when he was in high school. He never left the restaurant over the years. He has no apparent criminal past, except for a pair of traffic fines, officials said.

His family released a statement Saturday praising law enforcement agencies for returning Ben and Shawn to their families. Devlin's relatives said they prayed for Ben's safe return when they learned last week he was kidnapped, and said "the past few days have been incredibly difficult.

"Just as we are relieved that both Ben and Shawn are now safe, we hope that Michael will be safe as the facts of his case are revealed."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.