A man accused of attempting to sexually assault a University student on Nov. 21 will make his first appearance in Lane County Circuit Court today, facing criminal charges of third degree sex abuse.
Nolan Bryant Heinz, 26, was detained by the University Department of Public Safety in the early morning hours of Nov. 21 for resembling the description of a man who allegedly attempted to seize and grope an unidentified female student near the Knight Library. The student identified Heinz as her assailant, and he was turned over to the Eugene Police Department and held at the Lane County Adult Corrections Center. Heinz’s arraignment hearing was held on Monday, Nov. 22, and he pleaded not guilty.
Information regarding when Heinz was released from custody was unavailable, but LCACC records showed he was no longer held at the facility.
Heinz’s appearance today will be at 2:30 p.m. and is part of the standard 35-Day Call, where the statuses of criminal cases are checked before the court, allowing initial pleas of not guilty to be changed and future court appearances, possibly sentencing depending on plea status, to be set.
An e-mail alert sent out by the University on Nov. 21 indicated that Heinz was a suspect in an earlier attempted kidnapping and assault incident that occurred on the evening of Saturday, Nov. 20, but Heinz is currently only being charged in relation to the incident on Nov. 21.
Heinz is a University alumnus. He received his Bachelor of Arts in English in winter 2006, and went on to earn his Masters degree from the University in 2007. He then went on to pursue a career in education and had been employed at Kennedy Middle School in Eugene since 2007.
A letter sent out to parents and guardians of children at Kennedy Middle School, where Heinz taught language arts, on Nov. 21 said Heinz had been place on administrative leave. As of last Thursday, Eugene School District 4J spokesperson Kerry Delf was unable to discuss Heinz’s current employment status with the district.
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