‘Slowly Learning to Cope’

Does this allow for a measure of closure for all of you?
Craig: Yeah, in a way. We look at it as the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. Obviously, this was a life-changing experience for all of us, but it does give us the ability to move forward and put this part behind us. We don't have to worry about trials. We don't have to worry about defendants.

Has Shawn been following the news of the court proceedings?
Pam: Actually, he has. All of the reports from before, he would never watch. He would walk out of the room. But we called him when we walked out of each courtroom [this week] and told him that was over with. When we got home, he watched it on TV. The first time he saw [the news], he shocked us. He turned it up and made everybody be quiet. It was a satisfaction to him to know the sentence. He said, "Of course he pled guilty, because he knew he was guilty."

How did he respond to seeing Devlin's face again?
Pam: He didn't make a comment about it. We did give him the option to go to court with us. It was completely up to him. He told us he didn't have any desire to be in the same room with him ever again.

How has Shawn been dealing with the public discussion of what Devlin did to him?
Craig: He's handling it remarkably well, even though it is bringing out a lot of details that weren't out there before. A lot more information has been made available to the public that wasn't there before. That information has gone a long way to try to make sense of the question of why he didn't try to get away [during his time in captivity]. There's been a lot of statements by people that he had all this freedom, that he could walk away any time. We knew better. There was this naive perception, that even [with] all he'd been through, that didn't give him reason for not walking away. We're hoping some of that information that comes out will change people's perceptions, open people's eyes more to what he was subjected to. It turned out he had to make a deal to save his life. That was one of the primary reasons that he didn't get away. He had made that promise. Any moment could be his last. He lived daily under the threat of death. Even if he did get away, it wouldn't be impossible for the defendant to find him and kill him. Hopefully, this will shed light on that whole situation.

I recall your anger at all of the speculation about why Shawn didn't flee.
Craig: That was really difficult for us to hear as a parent, and especially knowing what we knew. We knew more details, we knew why things were the way they were. But due to the ongoing litigation, we couldn't share it at that point, so that made it doubly hard for us, knowing there was a very valid reason for that to happen.

Did Shawn explain to you himself why he never tried to escape?
Craig: Yeah, it was shortly after Shawn's return. One evening after much thought, he came out of the shower and wanted to share this information with us. He wanted to share details of what happened to him. And as part of his therapy, he's writing about things that happened, the things that are most traumatic for him, and then sharing those with his mother and I. So between what he initially told us and what we learned through the therapy process, we had a really good idea of what was going on in his head, and he did express to us what the real reason was. He knew we had those same questions. Though we didn't care, we had those questions ourselves. He wanted to satisfy that in our minds and get it off his chest.
Pam: A big problem I have is that some supposedly respected media figures spoke out in the beginning and questioned why Shawn didn't run. When you have a public person speak out like that, a lot will follow. I feel those people need to give Shawn a public apology. They don't realize how much that hurt him and the rest of the family. Until they apologize, I have no desire to speak to any of them.