Heinen sentenced to prison for sexual assault, child abuse

BEAVER CITY - Casey Heinen, an Arapahoe man who pleaded no contest to and was convicted of sexual assault and child abuse in February, was sentenced in Furnas County District Court Thursday.

After about 45 minutes of testimony from an OB-GYN, Dr. Ann Sjulin, and Heinen’s sister, Catherine Bowers, as well as closing arguments from Furnas County Attorney Morgan Farquhar and defense attorney Justin Daake and a statement from the defendant, District Court Judge James Doyle sentenced Heinen to 30-40 years in prison for each count with the sentences to run consecutively.

Farquhar had argued that the sexual assault and  child abuse with injury convictions each had aggravating circumstances, which called for stiffer penalties. He said the State requested prison terms of 45-50 years for each offense, with the sentences to be served consecutively.

Daake countered that while Heinen had been convicted of two horrible crimes, his pre-sentencing evaluations showed he was of low risk to re-offend and his strong background as a servant to the community, a good employee and no prior criminal record made him a good candidate for probation after some additional time in county jail.

In his statement, Heinen said he accepted full responsibility for his actions and that he was deeply sorry for what he had done, offering to do anything he could to aid the victim. He said he wanted to help his children avoid further hardship and wanted to be an asset to society and he’d be grateful for a second chance.