by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
A former Cold Spring-area resident has filed a lawsuit against Danny Heinrich, the man now in custody and preparing to stand trial for possessing child pornography.
Heinrich is also considered by law enforcement as a “person of interest” in the case of Jacob Wetterling, the St. Joseph boy abducted in 1989 when he was 11 years old and never heard from since.
In the lawsuit, Jared Scheierl, now 39, accuses Heinrich of sexual battery and false imprisonment in an incident that occurred in and near Cold Spring on Jan. 13, 1989. Scheierl, who was 12 years old at the time, alleges Heinrich forced him into his car in Cold Spring, then drove to a rural area where Heinrich allegedly sexually assaulted him, telling him he had a gun and would use it if he had to.
The incident involving Scheierl is one of several that took place in Cold Spring and Paynesville at about the same time frame in 1989, the same year that Wetterling was abducted on a rural road leading to his St. Joseph home. Wetterling was abducted 10 months after the alleged assault against Scheierl.
Heinrich was arrested last summer at his home in Annandale and charged with several counts relating to possession of child pornography. He is set to go to trial in July.
When Heinrich was arrested, law enforcement searched his Annandale home and discovered tapes and photos depicting young boys and pornographic subject matter and also recovered a sweatshirt containing something that testing later revealed as a DNA match to the 1989 assault against Scheierl.
Heinrich cannot be criminally prosecuted, however, for the alleged incident because the statute of limitations has expired. But Scheierl was allowed to bring a civil lawsuit against Heinrich because of the Minnesota Child Victim Act, due to expire at the end of this month.
Scheierl is asking for $50,000 in his lawsuit. He said he does not expect to collect any money but that in filing the lawsuit he, as a parent, understands the sense of “loss” he felt in the years following that assault and wants to bring some semblance of justice to those who feel similar pain and loss. Scheierl and the Wetterling family have become friends.
Heinrich is charged with 25 counts of child pornography. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison for the rest of his life. He remains in custody in the Sherburne County Jail.
Danny Heinrich
