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Talking Points: Danny Heinrich & The Search For Answers

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – On Monday, Danny Heinrich, the person of interest in the Jacob Wetterling case, will appear in federal court on child pornography charges.

Heinrich, of Annandale, was arrested last October, and court documents revealed that he's long been a suspect not just in the Wetterling case but in a number of other attacks on other young boys.

After his arrest last year, it was learned that Heinrich was first interviewed by authorities just weeks after Wetterling's 1989 abduction. It also came to light that Heinrich was a suspect in a series of unsolved attacks on young boys in the city of Paynesville in the mid-80s.

But perhaps the biggest bombshell is that DNA testing showed that Heinrich's DNA was a match to the kidnapping and sexual assault of another young boy in 1989.

That boy, Jared Scheierl, is now in his thirties. For years, he has worked to find answers in the Paynesville cases, his own case and the Wetterling case.

Despite the DNA match, Heinrich cannot be prosecuted in Scheierl's case because the statute of limitations has expired.

"I feel like procrastination on the law enforcement side may have constituted injustice on my side," Scheierl said on WCCO Sunday Morning. "Although I can't prosecute Danny Heinrich, I think there are a lot of other victims that haven't received answers as well."

Heinrich continues to deny involvement in the Scheierl and Wetterling cases.

When the FBI searched his home last summer, Heinrich admitted he possessed child pornography, telling an agent he was "addicted" and "a dirty old man."

Even so, Heinrich is expected to plead not guilty to child pornography charges when he appears in court this week.

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