Varying Treatments

Are you familiar with the Devlin case? I’m sure you are. Everybody in America knows about it.

In case you haven’t read the papers lately or have dozed off early before the evening news could effectively occupy a regular and permanent fixture in your late night viewing habits or schedule, this case is about the abduction of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby by Michael Devlin.

Of course, we all know that both boys have already been found and rescued after conducting a frantic people search on them. Shawn Hornbeck’s ordeal was more tragic since he spent 4 years with Devlin.

It is not surprising then, that Hornbeck is getting more attention than Ben Ownby or Mitchell Hults, the one who gave the tip to the police. Ownby’s parents don’t seem to object to the imbalance. On the contrary, they even welcome a long respite from reporters.