Kidnapped as a Child: Why I Didn't Return

0:00Through 25 seasons, 4 ,561 episodes, I believe The Oprah Winfrey Show is one of the greatest classrooms in the world. I really never thought of it that way. The aha moments, the breakthroughs, the connections, the occasional ugly cry. I'm missing so terribly. I miss it every single minute. The LOLs, the moments that mattered, the eye-opening life lessons. Never allow them to take you somewhere else. I'm bringing them back. It's time to open the vault. I've personally chosen these classic episodes to share with you again. Every single person you ever will meet shares that common desire. They want to know, do you see me?

0:47Do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you? You are listening to The Oprah Winfrey Show, the podcast. They called it the miracle in Missouri when two boys were found alive, one missing for four days, one for more than four years. There's been much debate, lots of talk, speculation, the press about why children don't run from their abductors when it seems that they have and did have a chance. You're about to meet a man who is enraged by all of these conversations and all of these questions. and more than anyone out there talking about it, he has the right to be outraged. I was 13 years old when I was a Baptist.

1:33I went to school that day in 1974. After school, I got on the bus and I was coming home. I got off the bus and a guy pulled up in a white Ford Fairland station wagon and asked me if I wanted to free him anybody. I said no. That was my first response was no. He says, are you sure? Because I'll take it home to your mom and dad. And if your mom and dad says it's okay, then you can have it. And once he said mom and dad, that's when I said okay. Todd says he got into the car and claims this man, Terry Roy Holman, kidnapped him and held him captive for the next 18 months. Todd says he was raped hundreds of times.

2:22He would say, you're mine. I can do whatever I want with you. And you enjoy it, don't you? If I wouldn't answer, yes, I enjoy it. I'd get hit. I tried running three times. He put a gun to my face and said, if you do, I'm going to shoot you. And the gun was in my face, and then he dropped it down. Boom, boom, boom. and he emptied him. 22 in between my legs. I was scared. I didn't think I'd live. To prevent him from escaping, Todd says he was tied up and drugged with Valium and sleeping pills. I'd go to sleep. He'd wake me up abruptly, you know, and say, like, call me Dad now. I want you to call me Dad now.

3:10When I wouldn't call him Dad, he'd hit me. He'd choke me until I passed out. All I did was try to live. So, you know, I let him do what he wanted with me. And how long were you there? With Holman. I was with him for 18 months, a year and a half. A year and a half. And how did you finally get free? A private detective, Denny Whalen, found me. Mm-hmm. So, those of you who are watching, those of you in the audience, you notice where I said, he said, or Todd says, that is because you never went to trial. Right. The county attorney in Omaha, Nebraska, dropped the kidnapping charges against Terry Holman because he didn't want to put me through the trauma and stuff, even though I said I would.

3:55I have no problem doing that. Mm-hmm. Because then I'd have my justice is what I want. Then I'd have closure. My producers have spent some time with you, and I've just known you for the past five minutes. I saw you coming in. There is a definite sadness that I feel from you. And do you think that part of that sadness, part of that, and I understand you've had a lot of difficulties since this happened, do you think that that is because you never had your justice? Yes, because if I would have had the justice, my parents would have had the justice too. Before they died, you know, it would have been great.

4:31I'm working with the Kansas City Parole Board because he's due up for parole in December of 2008. or sooner. Mm-hmm. And they offered me to come in and talk to the parole board to keep him behind jail, because he got sentenced to 30 years to life. For something else. For something else, for having a shootout with the police. Mm-hmm. So that's what I'm working on now, so I can keep him in. Okay. So the man's name is Terry Holman, and after his arrest, he was sent to prison for eight years for an unrelated crime. After that, he was released. prosecutors decided to spare Todd, as you were just saying, from having to testify.

5:10So he was never really convicted of this crime. No, he never was. Mm-hmm. So tell us, because every time there's another story in the news, all of us in America, I think, or a number of people, feel, oh, what a shame. Isn't that sad? You feel what? The past comes right back to me, everything. I'm fine until I see something on the news about it. So when you saw the Sean Hornbeck case? When I seen the Sean Hornbeck case and I hear that, wow, he had a chance to run and all of this. He did not have a chance to run. I know he didn't. I tried running and I got beat, shot at, choked until I passed out.

5:52I'm deaf in my left ear because of it. Because what? Because of the beatings from Holman. You know, they put that fear into you. Yeah. You know, they wake you up, they drug you, and stuff like that. I even went to a DH, Department of Human Service office with him, hoping that someone recognized me. No one did. He was standing there in front of the welfare office and no one did. You were 13 at the time? I was 13 at the time. 13 at the time. And he also told you that your parents are no longer looking for you. Yeah. Yeah. Just give up hope. If they were gonna find you, they would've found you by now if they wanted you back.

6:26Yeah. And he would usually say that to me also. Okay, so tell us a little bit. Your case is your case. We're not in any way saying this was Sean Hornbrick's case or the case of Ben, who was also kidnapped. But the first night you were kidnapped, you were taken where? I was taken to Leisure Lanes Motel. And that was in Omaha, Nebraska. I walked into the room. He said the minibike was in the closet area there. I walked in there when I went around the corner. There was no minibike, and then I turned around, and there was a gun in my face. There was a gun in your face. And he told me to get down on the ground.

7:04First night that I was with him, he sexually molested me the first night. And from there, we went to Ames, Iowa. Did you ever think to call home? He made me call home when we were in North Platte. North Platte is where? North Platte, Nebraska, and called my brother. and he told me to tell them that I was in Tennessee with friends, so don't worry about me. I'm never coming back and all this. This was how long after you had been kidnapped? About six months. About six months. That's how they found out that I was with Holman because he was using the alias of Jason McCord and he never paid the phone bill.

7:46So the phone company called my brother and asked him if he knew a Jason McCord from North Platte, Nebraska. No, he didn't know nothing. And that's when they found out that Terry Holman had me at that time. But then it was still another year later before they actually found you. Right. And so you were molested how many times do you think? Way over a hundred times. You can't, I can't count it. Was it a daily thing, a weekly thing? Sometimes it was a daily thing. Did he also have you solicit other kids? Yeah, he made me solicit about five other kids that he drugged. And how would you do that? How would you be a part of that?

8:29Make friends with him outside, play with him, where he has a view of you and bring them in. And he'd put the drugs in the Kool-Aid. And that's how he got them. I see you tearing up because you still feel bad about that. Because I feel that it's my fault, yet I know it's not. Mm-hmm. That you would lure other children with him watching you. And what is the youngest age of child that he would have you, that you saw? A three-year-old. That was the youngest one. Yes. And I understand the three-year-old had had some injuries? Yeah, he had a half-body cast on him. Mm-hmm. And what would happen to those children?

9:18He sexually molested them. And then let them go? Yeah. Because the kids didn't know because he was drugging them. And then he would let them go. Go. In 1974, those of you who were born, we felt very differently about this. I don't think the country was aware that this was going on to the extent that kids were being kidnapped and people didn't speak about sexual molestation at the time. Right. and because it wasn't out there in public. It's a scary thought for parents to think that there's a pedophile. Were you just walking down the street at the time? I just got off the bus and crossed the street, and that's when he pulled up.

9:5813-year-old Todd Biket was getting off the school bus when he says he was abducted by 30-year-old Terry Roy Holman. For 18 months, Todd says he was raped, tortured, and sexually abused. Todd says he was eventually found after his captor forced him to call his family with a phony story. That call tipped off authorities and gave his family hope. Todd was actually in Clarkston, Washington, more than 1 ,000 miles from home. Police found him one year later. When they broke the door down, I went and hid underneath the bed because I thought I did something wrong. After 18 months of alleged rape and torture, Todd was reunited with his family.

10:39but settling back into his life was difficult. When I went back to school, that was the hardest part. The kids were very cruel. I'd be called queer, gay, and stuff like that. I wanted to do this show for all of our viewers and the rest of the people in this country who keep asking, why didn't Sean Hornbeck run? I wanted to do this show because I don't feel that we have the right to judge unless you were also captured, until you've been in the shoes of the person who has been captured. Because the truth is this. As a person who was just sexually molested, not kidnapped and tortured and raped, I know that molesters want you to believe, want the child to believe that they are responsible.

11:25So any child who's being molested and has been molested more than one time, it is highly likely that the molester has engaged them in such a way, seduce them in such a way that they, the child, thinks that they are now a part of it. Because they keep asking, didn't you like it? You liked it, didn't you? You liked it. So now you're a part of it. I'm sure that happened to you. It did. It happened a lot. Mm-hmm. That's something, you know, if I wouldn't say it, that I liked it, I'd get hit. Yeah. And no one likes getting hit. Yeah. This man was 350 pounds. I was... Thirteen years old. Thirteen years old, 75 pounds.

12:01So this is the question I think a lot of people still have to ask though for themselves is how then are you who are being sexually sodomized, molested, tortured, how is it that you then can call that guy dad? Because if I wouldn't call him dad, he'd hit me. You know, it's just getting punished. Sure he gave me things, he gave me a bike, he gave me a boombox, but I had to return something in favor for that. So what do you think when you hear, as we've heard, that Sean Hornbeck was riding his bike, not only riding his bike, but there was a period of three weeks when he was left alone? He's scared.

12:45You're scared. You don't know what's going to happen. It's that fear. But that fear and surviving. He has that hope. Mom and Dad's looking for me. I know they are. And they're going to help. What do you think when you hear people say, because everybody that says, why did he run, is really asking the question, he must have liked it, so he stayed. He didn't like it. I didn't like it. People that are saying that, they're wrong. They're totally wrong. He couldn't help what happened to him, just like I couldn't help what happened to me. So when you went home to your parents, everybody would think that would be, you're released, you're freed from this guy who's done some horrible things to you.

13:27What was that like for you going home? The first time I came home, it was great. Yeah. Until I went back to school. Mm-hmm. Kids can be very, very cruel. And I got kicked out of school 13 times because of fights. Mm-hmm. Because being called queer, gay, gym class, don't drop your bar of soap, you bend over, Beckett's gonna get you, and stuff like that. Mm-hmm. That's the cruelness. What happened to me, I could not help. The parents, when I was growing up, didn't explain this to their kids. You know, it's not this child's fault, it's this predator's fault that did this. And I understand you went to see a psychologist or psychiatrist?

14:09Psychiatrist. I went through drug treatment and they sent me over to Richard Young, which is a psychiatric place. And I was there for a week. They diagnosed me with post-traumatic stress disorder. And from there I went back to the drug treatment because I was still doing drugs, trying to deal with it, taking speed. So you didn't even tell us. You started doing drugs after you arrived home? Right. Because? Because I didn't want to deal with it, the dreams and stuff like that. And I also understand your parents who are now passed. Your parents were really insistent. Your mother wanted to know what happened.

14:46She wanted to know what happened in question. Because she was trying to help me. She was because she was told for me to get it better, I have to talk about it. I have to. And I wasn't... This was in 1976 by then, right? Right. And I didn't want to... Talk about it. Because if I told them, I would lose their respect of what happened to me. I let that man do it. Yet, I know today it's not my fault. But at that time, I didn't. And I didn't want to lose that respect. I understand. I understand. So now Todd has been married for 26 years and has three children. How has this affected the way you parent?

15:40When my children were old enough to understand, I told them the truth. What happened? I was sodomized. I told them everything. I was molested. I told them what sodomy is. I told them what molestation is and all that. Yes, it's graphic, you know, when they're old enough to understand. How old were they when you told them? I'd say about six and seven years old. How old are they now? I got my oldest son who's 26. And I got a daughter that's 25 and my youngest son that's 21. So what do you want to say to all the people who still question why Sean Hornbeck didn't Don't judge him. He didn't have a choice and he couldn't run.

16:24He was trying to survive. And that's the bottom line. He could have been dead. Are you going to question that? He tried to stay alive. He was staying alive. Thank you, Todd. So here are the factual stats. Over 250 ,000 children, 250 ,000, that's a quarter million, are abducted every single year here in our country, the United States. And there's about 20 % of those children who are taken from their home or their yard. 115 of these children are held captive by strangers like Todd and Sean Hornbeck. The American dream is shattered when you live in a country where your child is not safe to ride their bike down the street or not safe in their own bedroom.

17:15Ed Smart knows that all too well because we all remember when his daughter Elizabeth vanished from her bedroom in Utah five years ago. Welcome. So when you hear the story of Todd who says that he went home and his parents were 1976 trying all they could to help him and his mother wanted him to tell, wanted him to tell, and that it drove him to drugs. You did the opposite. Your family did the opposite. You know, when Elizabeth came home, it was just such a miracle. And the important thing was that we realized that this was not her fault and that nobody had the right to do this. It wasn't her choice.

17:59And that, you know, she deserves of life, and she deserves to have her life and to be able to take it back and to live it. You know, Todd, I just, I look at him and he is a hero and he is a survivor and moving forward with his life. And that's what we wanted for Elizabeth. So you didn't ask? We didn't ask. Elizabeth went through a lot telling her story to forensic psychologists and that was enough. And she said, you know, you can tell my dad or you can tell my parents. And we heard enough. You know what happened. I know what happened. I heard enough. So you know she was sexually molested. Yes.

18:41Yes. You heard it from them, so you didn't need to hear it. I didn't need to hear it. From her. And I wanted her to know that she was home, that she was safe, and that she did not have to bother with this the rest of her life, that it was time for her to move on. And she has moved on. Yeah, she's in college. She's in college. She loves it. And she's doing so well. The last time I saw her, she was playing the harp for me. Is she doing well in music? She's doing very well in music. Great. She just loves it and it's very challenging and she is... And you know, I've seen you on some shows speaking so eloquently about this whole idea of people asking why did Sean Hornbeck not run?

19:18And your response? And my response is they are as much handcuffed there. I mean, Elizabeth tried to escape a couple of times and she was caught and not only was she told that her life was in jeopardy, but that our life was in jeopardy. This was real. It is very real. Do you think he was coming back for your other daughter? I have no doubt that he probably would have. And I have no doubt if he ever gets out that he will be out after another girl. Really? Yeah. Yeah. How were you able to put your family back together? You know, I thank God. I really do. And I count my blessings every day. I have a wonderful wife and wonderful family, a wonderful extended family, and I know that they've made it possible along with God and all the prayers of everyone.

20:08So where do things stand now with her captors? Her captors are sitting there waiting to be deemed competent to stand trial. Still? Still. Doesn't that aggravate you? Miss you off, Ed. Go ahead, say it. Yeah. Go ahead, say it. Yeah. Isn't it frustrating? Our goal is to see him not hurt anyone else. Yeah. And he is behind bars or he is secure so that he can't do that. And I mean, nothing's going to change with us going to trial and for this to come to an end. We know what he did. We know that he would do it again. But you still intend to go to trial? If that day comes, absolutely. Okay. And Elizabeth will be there and she will face him and she will be ready to tell him off.

21:02Really? So you're not thinking as Todd's family did or the prosecutors at the time don't want to prosecute because re-traumatizing her? You know, certainly there was a huge concern about that initially. But Elizabeth is four years along and she is a strong woman. And ready to do it. And she would. Ready to testify. Well, thank you. Thank you. I want you to take a look at this map. It shows where more than 600 ,000 registered sex offenders are living in the United States. These are the three states with the highest numbers, about 40 ,000 in Michigan, almost 50 ,000 in Texas, and over 109 ,000 in the state of California.

21:43Exactly 109 ,000, so the stats say. And these are just the registered sex offenders. Very interesting. Ernie Allen is co-founder and president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Since the center opened in 1984, they have helped recover more than 110 ,000 missing and abducted children.

22:05Yes. So in 1974, an organization like this didn't even exist when Todd was kidnapped. And so what is really going on? Well, what's going on, Oprah, is that the laws have failed America's children. You talk about 600 ,000 registered sex offenders, 100 ,000 of them are missing. We don't know where they are. We don't know where they are. Okay. And let's just say registered. Do you know that when the Sean Harnbrecht story came in the news, a friend of mine said to me, I can't believe that guy was living in the neighborhood and nobody knew he was there. I go, because he wasn't registered. He hadn't been convicted.

22:40Right. So people assume that just when you hear about a sex offender, that those are the sex offenders who are registered. The 600 ,000 are the ones that have actually been convicted, that we know of. They've been arrested, convicted, they're supposed to be registered. The data tell us that just one in three of sexual offenses against children are ever even reported. So we know there are many more than that. Yeah. And we also know that these guys move around and they take advantage of the inadequacies of the laws. There are 31 states where the failure to register is just a misdemeanor. So as a result, there's very little risk to them.

23:16Yeah. I say this all the time, that this country is confused about how it really feels about sexual abuse. This country is confused about it, the country meaning us, don't you think? Oh, I do. And I think there's a sense of denial. Yes, there's huge denial about it. And everybody who is convicted, it has to be somebody's brother or somebody's uncle or somebody's father, somebody's son. and everybody's okay with it until it has to be in your family. So when you see it in your family, you're willing to turn the other way. That's how I see it. And we're in denial about it in our country. Well, the researchers tell us that one in five girls and one in ten boys will be sexually victimized in some way in this country before they reach the age of 18.

24:01This is the problem that's touching millions of kids and millions of families. Okay. So the laws need to change. What laws? Well, there are a range of laws. Certainly one of them is every one of these offenders needs to be registered. Government, law enforcement needs to know where they are. These are the ones that have been tried and convicted. Absolutely. So we know that these kinds of offenders represent the highest risk of re-offense. So at a minimum, we need to know where they are. We need to strengthen the penalties when they harm a child. In the case of Sean Hornback and Ben Ownby, this was a pure stranger abduction.

24:41Mm-hmm. But in the vast majority of these cases, the offender wins the confidence of the child. You used the word earlier, seduce. Yeah. That is what I think we... That's the term I think we should start using in this country. People call it molestation. But really, before the child is molested, in a lot of cases, I'm not... I don't even know your stats. I'm just talking about people I know. Right. You're seduced first. And the reason kids don't tell, One of the reasons they don't tell is because they feel they're a part of it once they've been seduced. Because if the molester, if the sexual predator is good at it, the child would then feel that they're a part of it.

25:16Oh, there's no question about it. And that's why your kids don't tell, because by the time they're seduced into it, they're made to feel good. They're made to feel that it's okay. The offenders use the word grooming. Yes. They target vulnerable kids. They prey on that vulnerability. They approach them with friendship and kindness, and then they victimize them, which is why kids feel like it's their fault. That's why. You need to look your children in the eye and teach them to fight back. Would you agree with that, Ed Smart? Absolutely. Because the truth of the matter is, predators are no different than any other criminal, in that they want the person who's going to be the easiest victim.

25:51They don't want the kid who's going to make a lot of noise and going to scream and going to fight back. They want the kid who's going to come with them and be as quiet as possible. So, what can we do today? Well, you can mobilize your audience, the millions of people who watch you. There's extraordinary legislation that the Congress just passed called the Adam Walsh Act that creates a federal felony for failing to register, that creates a national website and database that charges the marshals with tracking these guys down and which mandates each one of the states to have consistent and uniform law.

26:25Because right now the problem in this country, the reason why the laws need to change is because every Every state has a different law. So if you're a pedophile, you're a guy who's been convicted in one state, you can go to another state that doesn't... whereas to be registered is just a misdemeanor. Absolutely. Slap on the hand. So that's what they do. They move around. They move around. So what we would... There needs to be a consistent law. No question about it. We'd like every person in America to write a letter to their senator. And there's also a letter to your governor. Because we want to make sure that every state enacts this...

26:57these provisions right now. There's nothing that's a higher priority for America's moms and dads... Than the Adam Walsh law. Absolutely. This is homeland security. This is homeland security. In the case of Sean Hornbeck and Ben Omby, Michael Devlin has pleaded not guilty to the kidnapping charges filed in connection with the two Missouri boys. He has yet to enter a plea to the remaining 71 charges against him, including 69 counts of forcible sodomy. I want to say again, thanks to all of my guests today. You'll be hearing a lot more from The Oprah Show, from me personally, about changing the laws against sexual predators in this country.