An Ohio man has been charged with impregnating a 10-year-old girl who was forced to cross state lines to get an abortion – a story that garnered national attention following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade.
Gerson Fuentes, 27, was arrested on Tuesday and has been charged with one count of rape after police say he confessed to raping the child two different times, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
The unidentified child made national headlines when she traveled from Ohio to Indiana to get an abortion after the state banned the procedure after six weeks – hours after the 6-3 Supreme Court vote.
Fuentes was arraigned Wednesday, days after some conservatives, including Ohio’s Republican governor and attorney general, had raised questions about whether the case was real. Abortion rights supporters had pointed to the story to highlight fallout from the Supreme Court ruling.
Gerson Fuentes, 27, was arrested on Tuesday and has been charged with one count of rape after police say he confessed to raping the child two different times
A detective testified Wednesday that Columbus police learned about the girl’s pregnancy through a referral by Franklin County Children Services that was made by her mother on June 22. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that recognized women’s constitutional right to abortion, just two days later on June 24.
The girl had an abortion in Indianapolis on June 30, The Columbus Dispatch reported, crossing state lines in order to access the procedure.
An Indianapolis physician who provides abortion services, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, had told The Indianapolis Star that an abortion had been provided for such a child because the girl couldn’t get the abortion in Ohio, which had a newly imposed state ban on abortions at the first detectable ‘fetal heartbeat.’
The child was six weeks and three days pregnant – therefore, ineligible by just three days to receive the procedure in her home state.
According to court records, a report was generated on June 22 with the Columbus Division of Police for rape. And on July 6, the victim identified Fuentes to authorities as the person who raped her.
A week later, Fuentes was served a search warrant for a saliva sample and was taken into custody where he confessed to raping the victim.
Fuentes appeared in court Wednesday and was given a $2 million bond. He is currently in the Franklin County Jail.
Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Cynthia Ebner said the case did not warrant Fuentes – who is believed to be undocumented – to be held without bond, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
But Ebner said a higher bond was necessary due to Fuentes being a possible flight risk and for the safety of children involved.
The arrest comes a day after the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said his office didn’t hear a ‘whisper’ about the 10-year-old girl who allegedly had to leave the state in order to get an abortion, and said there’s ‘no biological evidence’ of the case as a rape kit was not performed.
Yost, 65, told Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Monday that a police report was never filed involving a 10-year-old rape victim and that the office ‘works closely’ with law enforcement, indicating that he would have known about it if one was filed.
‘We have regular contact with prosecutors and local police and sheriffs, not a whisper anywhere,’ he told Fox News.
The Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, 65, said his office didn’t hear a ‘whisper’ about the 10-year-old girl who allegedly got an abortion in Indiana, and said there’s ‘no biological evidence’ of the case as a rape kit was not performed
Even more telling, Jesse, my office runs the state crime lab. Any case like this, you’re going to have a rape kit, you’re going to have biological evidence, and you’d be looking for DNA analysis,’ he said on Monday. ‘There is no case request for analysis that looks anything like this.’
The case made national headlines soon after the Indianapolis Star, an Indiana-based publication, reported a little girl had to cross state lines to receive an abortion because she was denied one in Ohio. An Indianapolis gynecologist claimed an Ohio abuse doctor got in contact with her hours after the Supreme Court’s controversially overturned Roe v. Wade.
The child was allegedly six weeks and three days pregnant – therefore, ineligible by just three days to receive the procedure in her home state.
Abortion advocates in the state attempted to halt Ohio’s six-week abortion ban, but the effort was denied by a judge on Friday.
Ohio is one of the many states that are set to impose laws, which would cap abortions at six weeks in the state. Also in the state of Ohio, doctors are mandated to report abuse of minors
Biden mentioned the story in an passionate speech that argued for federal abortion protection and asked the audience to imagine being the that little girl
ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue82erqxnn522sHnGoqmlaWBixKK%2FjJ%2Bmq5uVmXq1u4ycqairo2LAta3TnmSloZ6awG6yzqtkmqZdlq%2BwvtOipqdlmaN6qrrDopinmV8%3D