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Gerson Fuentes, a 27-year-old man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old Ohio girl who traveled to Indiana for an abortion.
Gerson Fuentes was arrested on Tuesday for raping a minor, court records indicate.
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.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, a detective testified in court on Wednesday that the child had to travel to Indiana on June 30 for the procedure.
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.
The arrest comes one 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.
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 multiple times.
Fuentes appeared in court Wednesday and was given a $2 million bond. He is currently in the Franklin County Jail.
