'Person of interest' in Wetterling disappearance pleads not guilty to child porn charges

The Annandale, Minn. man identified as a person of interest in the 1989 disappearance of Jacob Wetterling pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he possessed and received child pornography.

Danny James Heinrich, 52, entered the plea during an arraignment before Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Heinrich spoke only briefly, stating his name and birth date in a hearing that lasted less than five minutes.

A trial date on the child pornography charges is set for July 11. Heinrich's next court appearance — a motions hearing — is scheduled for April 27.

Heinrich has been in federal custody since late October, after authorities arrested him on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. He was indicted in December on 25 child pornography charges stemming from a search of his home last summer that turned up print and digital images of children, some under the age of 12.

A search warrant showed that authorities had been looking for evidence in both Jacob's abduction and a separate kidnapping and sexual assault of a 12-year-old boy in nearby Cold Spring, Minn., nine months before Jacob disappeared.

Jacob was 11 when he was kidnapped shortly after 9 p.m. on Oct. 22, 1989, as he and his brother, Trevor, 10, and best friend, Aaron Larson, 11, rode their bikes to a Tom Thumb store not far from the family's rural St. Joseph, Minn., home to rent a video.

Jacob has yet to be found, and no one has ever been charged in the case.

Heinrich, who lived in Paynesville, Minn., about 30 miles southwest of St. Joseph, at the time of Jacob's abduction, was questioned by investigators soon after it happened and several times in 1990. He said then that he was not involved, authorities have said.

But he re-emerged as a "person of interest" last summer, investigators said, because of similarities to the January 1989 kidnapping and sexual assault of the Cold Spring boy.

DNA evidence later found on the sweatshirt of the boy, Jared Scheierl — who is now 40 and speaking publicly about the assault — matched Heinrich. Authorities said in October that Heinrich could not be charged in Scheierl's case because the statute of limitations had run out.

Scheierl, who now lives in Paynesville, trekked to Monday's arraignment in Minneapolis, knowing it might be brief. But he felt it was important to be there, he said afterward.

"It's a sense of closure."

Authorities said in October that Heinrich consistently has told them, both soon after Jacob's disappearance and again recently, that he was not involved. They also said that when they searched Heinrich's home last summer, they found nothing to connect him to Jacob.

At that time, however, they found 19 three-ring binders containing numerous images of child pornography. The binders included pictures of some known child victims. Child pornography also was found on Heinrich's computer hard drive.

When authorities arrived at Heinrich's house with a search warrant, he described himself as "a dirty old man" but denied creating pornography or sharing it with anyone, according to a federal agent who testified in court.

Stephen.Montemayor@startribune.com • 612-673-1755