In a case that gained national attention after the obstetrician-gynecologist who performed the abortion spoke with a journalist, an Ohio man was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for raping a 10-year-old girl who later had to go to Indiana for the surgery.
The 28-year-old Gerson Fuentes pled guilty and was given a life sentence. According to the terms of his plea agreement, however, he will be eligible to apply for parole in 25 years. If Fuentes, a Guatemalan currently residing in Columbus, Ohio, is given release, he will be required to join the sex offender registry.
According to The Associated Press, Common Pleas Court Judge Julie Lynch referred to the plea agreement as a “very hard pill for this court to swallow.” Lynch stated that the victim’s relatives requested the judge approve the agreement.
The tweet below verifies the news:
An Ohio man was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for raping a 10-year-old girl who then had to travel to Indiana for an abortion. https://t.co/yATMqTmJ2G
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 6, 2023
When Fuentes attacked the girl, she was just nine years old. The girl’s mother contacted Franklin County Children Services to report her daughter’s pregnancy, which is how police in Columbus found out about it.
The child went to Indiana for an abortion just after she turned 10 years old. DNA evidence from the aborted baby was used to accuse Fuentes of paternity. A state restriction on abortions at the first detectable “fetal heartbeat,” which went into force in Ohio after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, meant that the operation was unavailable to the girl.
Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the girl’s doctor, informed an Indianapolis Star reporter that an Ohio specialist who specializes in child abuse had approached her about doing the procedure in Indiana. Attorney General Todd Rokita has taken legal action against the physician for disclosing information regarding the operation.
Bernard claimed she brought it up to inform Hoosiers about the practicalities of abortion care in the event that the state implemented restrictive abortion laws. Bernard testified that she utilized a real-life example rather than a hypothetical one because the latter wouldn’t resonate as much with readers.
]She claimed that she reported the abuse to Ohio officials, who were already looking into the case involving the youngster who had been sent to an Indiana hospital. The doctor’s lawyers insisted that their client had not divulged any personal patient information.
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Bernard was fined $3,000 and given a letter of reprimand by the Indiana Medical Licensing Board, but her license was not revoked. On June 30th, the Indiana Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the state’s nearly complete prohibition on abortion.
The law is among the harshest in the country, prohibiting abortions save for those necessary to prevent the mother’s death or serious injury (such as in situations of rape or incest).
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