Steven Stayner
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| Book cover | |
| Author | Mike Echols |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Pinacle Books |
| Released | October, 1991 |
| Media Type | Paperback) |
| Pages | 351 pp (paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7860-1104-1 (paperback) |
Steven Gregory Stayner (April 18, 1965 – September 16, 1989) was an U.S. boy who earned notoriety after he was kidnapped and held captive by his abductor, only to be reunited with his family years later.
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[edit] Biography
Stayner was born to Delbert and Kay Stayner in Merced, California. On December 4, 1972, while returning home from school, Stayner was abducted by Protestant reverand Kenneth Parnell, a multiple felon and convicted child molester.
Parnell kept Steven with him, telling people that the boy was his son, and calling him Dennis Gregory Parnell. "Dennis" and Parnell moved frequently around California with Parnell putting him into a series of schools. He bought the boy a dog called Queenie.
Parnell repeatedly molested the boy, starting with oral sex and moving onto sodomy. The young Stayner made many friends over the years and Parnell baby sat for the parents of one of his friends Kenny Matthias. Kenny's mother Barbara was always fighting with her alcoholic husband Bob and eventually Barbara moved in with Parnell and 'Dennis'. One evening, "Dennis" was invited into bed with Parnell and Barbara, and the eight-year-old boy was made to have sex with her. Eventually, Parnell and Barbara separated, and Parnell's sexual abuse of Stayner was renewed.
As Stayner approached puberty, Parnell began to look for younger victims. On Valentine's Day 1980, Parnell kidnapped five-year-old Timmy White in Ukiah, California. Stayner waited for an opportunity to escape with Timmy and return him to his parents. On March 1, 1980, while Parnell was away at his job, Stayner left with Timmy and hitchhiked into Ukiah, turning himself and Timmy into the police. The boys were reunited with their families, and Parnell was tried and convicted of kidnapping Timmy and Steven in two separate trials. He was not charged with the numerous sexual assaults on Steven Stayner and other boys. Barbara Matthias was also never arrested.
Stayner was married on June 13, 1985 and he and his wife had two children. In 1989 a television miniseries based on his experience, I Know My First Name is Steven (also known as The Missing Years), was produced. It was based on a manuscript by Mike Echols, who had researched the story and met all the key people, including Stayner and Parnell.
On September 16, 1989, Stayner was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was driving without a licence and without his helmet which had been stolen a few days before. 500 people attended his funeral including 14-year-old Timmy White. The miniseries was turned into a feature length movie and Mike Echols published his book I Know My First Name is Steven in 1991. In the epilogue to his book, Echols descibes how he infiltrated NAMBLA.
[edit] Aftermath
A memorial has been proposed in Merced, honoring Steven's courage and heroism.
In 2004, Kenneth Parnell, now in his 70s, was convicted of trying to persuade a woman to procure him a young boy for $500.
Steven Stayner's brother Cary was arrested in 1999 and charged with the murder of Carole Sund, her 15-year-old daughter Juli, 16-year-old Silvina Pelosso, and park employee Joie Armstrong, in the Yosemite National Park. He was convicted and awaits execution.
[edit] Further reading
- I Know My First Name is Steven. ISBN 0-7860-1104-1.
