Ohio man charged in rape of 10-year-old girl who had to travel for abortion

An Ohio man has been charged in the rape of a 10-year-old girl who had to travel to Indiana to undergo an abortion, a case that's been decried by President Biden in the days since the story garnered international attention.

Gershon Fuentes, 27, was arrested Tuesday after he confessed to authorities that he had raped the 10-year-old on at least two occasions, according to The Columbus Dispatch, which first reported the news. Fuentes, whose last known address is in Columbus, was arraigned on Wednesday on a charge of felony first-degree rape. He is being held in Franklin County Jail on a $2 million bond.

Columbus Police Detective Jeffrey Huhn testified that the arrest was made after a referral from Franklin County Children Services, which had been in touch with the girl's mother on June 22, according to video of the arraignment from WXIN — two days before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The girl had an abortion at an Indianapolis clinic on June 30, Huhn said.

The detective added that Fuentes's DNA is being tested to confirm that he was the father to the aborted fetus, according to video of the hearing.

If convicted, Fuentes faces life in prison.

Neither Clark Torbett, Fuentes's attorney with the Franklin County Public Defender's Office, nor a representative with Franklin County Children's Services immediately responded to requests for comment Wednesday. Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Dan Meyer told The Washington Post that the office's policy "is to not comment on ongoing investigations."

The story of the 10-year-old victim was first made public by Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis physician who provides abortions. In an Indianapolis Star article published July 1, Bernard said that she had been called by a child abuse doctor in Ohio about a 10-year-old patient who was six weeks and three days pregnant.

The story quickly received international attention. In impassioned remarks on the future of abortion, Biden expressed outrage over the reported case. "She was forced to have to travel out of the state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life," Biden said at the White House last week. "Ten years old - 10 years old! - raped, six weeks pregnant, already traumatized, was forced to travel to another state."

Soon after Biden's speech, Republicans - including Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Rep. Jim Jordan - expressed skepticism over the story. In a Tuesday evening op-ed titled, "An Abortion Story Too Good to Confirm," The Wall Street Journal's editorial board criticized Biden for giving his "presidential seal of approval on an unlikely story from a biased source that neatly fits the progressive narrative but can't be confirmed."

"The abortion debate is intense and passions run high," The Journal's editorial board wrote. "But the American people deserve better from their President than an unproven story designed to aggravate those passions."

Earlier in the week, Yost told Fox News host Jesse Watters that his office had heard "not a whisper" about the reported case of the 10-year-old victim. "We have regular contact with prosecutors and local police and sheriffs - not a whisper anywhere," Yost said on Monday.

The attorney general doubled down to the USA Today network on Tuesday, saying, "Every day that goes by the more likely that this is a fabrication."

"I am not going to put anyone else in Fox's line of fire," she wrote in a text message to The Post.

Yost initially issued a one-sentence statement when the arrest was announced Wednesday: "We rejoice anytime a child rapist is taken off the streets." Yost expanded on the news in a statement to The Post.

"My heart aches for the pain suffered by this young child. I am grateful for the diligent work of the Columbus Police Department in securing a confession and getting a rapist off the street," he said. "Justice must be served and BCI stands ready to support law enforcement across Ohio putting these criminals behind bars."

The statement did not address his earlier remarks.

Jordan, who called the story a "lie" on Tuesday in a tweet that has since been deleted, joined Yost in celebrating the arrest.

Abortions performed on patients younger than 15 in the country are extremely rare. In 2019, 0.2% of reported abortions were performed on patients that young, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Huhn testified Wednesday that Fuentes admitted to detectives, through an interpreter, that he had sexual contact with the girl. The detective added that the girl also identified Fuentes as the man who impregnated her.