ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Decades after Jared Scheierl was attacked by the same man who abducted and murdered Jacob Wetterling, he’s been awarded more than $17 million in damages.
“It’s been quite a journey,” Scheierl said on Thursday about the decision surrounding the incident in January 1989, when Danny Heinrich abducted and assaulted him nine months before killing Wetterling.
Scheierl continued: “I felt that there had to be some type of accountability on Heinrich’s end. That’s always been my main issue.”
A NEARLY 30-YEAR JOURNEY
In a court order filed this week, Judge Andrew Pearson wrote definitively about the decision and the dollar amount awarded to Scheierl in the civil case, saying: “How does this court put a value on the diminished quality of life that Mr. Scheierl lived as a result of Mr. Heinrich’s act? It’s been said that a human life is worth more than all the treasures of the world. Mr. Heinrich’s actions on January 13, 1989, when Jared was only a child, directly resulted in immeasurable damages – a life of emotional pain, anguish and preoccupation with finding his abuser.”
It was DNA evidence in Scheierl’s case that led authorities to Heinrich in 2015. A year later, Heinrich confessed to the attack on Scheierl as well as the abduction, assault and murder of Wetterling nine months later. Heinrich remains in a federal prison, serving 20 years on unrelated child pornography charges.
$17 MILLION, JARED WILL NEVER SEE
Pearson specifically awarded $2,044,150 as compensatory damages; $5 million as general damages; and another $10 million as punitive damages. Despite that significant amount – one of the highest in the state’s history, according to legal experts – Scheierl isn’t expected to receive hardly any of it.
“My understanding is the max you earn when in prison is 50 cents an hour. Then you have to pay off some of the fines that came through the criminal justice system. So it would be a couple of years before we would even be eligible to get any of that,” said Doug Kelley, Scheierl’s attorney.
But Kelley also confirmed the judgment remains importantly symbolic.
“The checks that would come would be small checks, but it would be a reminder to Heinrich every time it came out that money was taken away from him because of what he did to Jared,” said Kelley, who also worked pro bono for Scheierl for the duration of his case.
SCHEIERL’S POSITIVE PERSPECTIVE
Scheierl himself noted that the decision required significant “patience” over the years, along with persistence in finding answers in his case and that of Wetterling and several others who were believed targeted by Heinrich in the nearby community of Paynesville. And although his journey continues, Scheierl also acknowledged welcoming a rare legal victory.
“Another step moving forward,” Scheierl said, adding: “Will it ever be over? This doesn’t make it over, but it’s all good.”