FOX CROSSING, WI (WTAQ) – A 29-year-old Eau Claire man has been charged in the 2008 sexual assault of a Fox Crossing woman.
The state Department of Justice says this is the first time criminal charges have been filed in connection with the Wisconsin Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, an effort to address decades-old sex assault kits.
The victim says she met Aaron Heiden at a Darboy bar in August 2008, inviting him back to her home for sex.
She claims Heiden became ‘rough,’ ignoring pleas for him to stop.
The victim says she was in a lot of pain, with a sexual assault nurse documenting bruises and tears.
In February 2009, no matches were found in the database after a DNA profile was found from the kit.
Eight years later, a DNA profile was found and entered into the FBI’s national DNA database, following further testing of the kit by the Wisconsin State Crime Lab.
A couple months later, prosecutors say Heiden came back as a match, with investigators going to Eau Claire to interview him and obtain a DNA sample.
Officials say Heiden’s DNA matched that found in the kit.
Heiden faces charges of Second Degree Sexual Assault/Sex Organ Injury and Third Degree Sexual Assault.
