Luke Heimlich set to start Oregon State opener with sex case behind him

Just months after he went undrafted in the MLB Draft in the wake of a report surfacing that revealed he pleaded guilty to sexually molesting a female family member, Luke Heimlich is set to start the season opener for No. 2-ranked Oregon State on Feb. 16. And now, Heimlich’s family is ready to tell their side of the story.

While neither Heimlich nor his family members wanted to be quoted about the case, they recently provided Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune with therapist reports and court records that shed light on some of what went on between the time Heimlich was sentenced to two years of probation and the day he had his court records sealed on Aug. 28. Heimlich has maintained his innocence through every step of his case, and his father Mark says he would have hired a different attorney if he could do things over again.

For those who are unfamiliar with the background, Heimlich was accused when he was 15 of sexually molesting his niece on two occasions when she was four and six years old. The ex-wife of Heimlich’s brother Josh brought up the allegations in 2012, and Josh eventually went to the police.

Heimlich’s mother, Meridee, used to babysit for Josh’s two children between 2010 and 2012. Josh was living in Meridee’s home at the time, and it was then that the alleged incidents took place. Meridee said she was with the kids the entire time she looked after them, and she never witnessed anything inappropriate involving them and Luke. She also noted that Luke was hardly home during the time she watched the children, as he was usually at basketball and baseball practice.

Luke’s parents retained an attorney on behalf of Luke, and the attorney explained that the family’s choices were having Luke fight the charges and risk spending 40 weeks in a juvenile institution or plead guilty and have the charge reduced and a maximum probationary period of two years. After being convinced that it would be very difficult for Luke to prove his innocence, the family chose the latter to avoid putting their granddaughter through a potentially traumatic experience.

The probation stated that Luke could not have contact with his niece or any other children born after Feb. 2, 1998. He also had to report to a probation officer and complete a bi-weekly counseling program. During that time, his court-appointed therapist wrote that Luke never admitted any guilt aside from feeling responsible that his family had to go through a difficult time. He adamantly denied ever having molested his niece or any other child. When the program was completed, the therapist concluded that the risk of Luke committing such a crime going forward was very low and encouraged him to appeal having to be registered as a sex offender.

“This provider is in no position to make a judgment on the subject of Luke’s guilt or innocence,” the therapist wrote. “He pled guilty in court and was sentenced for that crime. He was given several opportunities throughout his treatment to admit to the crime, but he did not do so. He did, on multiple occasions, show tremendous guilt and responsibility for the impact this has had on his family. He expressed how, even though he knows he shouldn’t feel responsible, he cannot help but feel responsible for how his parents and siblings are being affected.

“Even if Luke actually committed the offense for which he pled guilty, his recidivism risk remains very low. Compared to the average … client, significantly low. It is for this reason that I encourage Luke to pursue getting his registration requirement waived and his record sealed as soon as legally possible. For Luke, these consequences do nothing to protect the community and serve no other useful purpose than to create barriers to his future success, whether it be applying for jobs or applying for college/university admissions.”

As of Aug. 27, 2018, Heimlich is no longer registered as a sex offender. When his probation ended in June 2014, a judge congratulated him for how quickly he completed the program and said the court expects “great things” from him.

While his relationship with his brother Josh is strained, Heimlich is said to still be very close with all of the other members of his family. He has four brothers and three sisters.

Heimlich was projected to be a top-50 pick last year before reports of his case leaked, and some teams took him off their boards completely after that. It remains to be seen if things will be different in this year’s draft. Heimlich’s coach at Oregon State has already vouched for his character.