- Wed Jul 13, 2022 9:04 pm
#134471
As you were saying Johnnie,,,,,
A 27-year-old man has been charged in the sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl who reportedly traveled from Ohio to Indiana for an abortion in a case that drew international attention — and scrutiny — in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Gershon Fuentes, who was arrested Tuesday, confessed to raping the child, according to documents filed in Franklin County, Ohio, Municipal Court.
He was charged with the rape of a minor and faces a life sentence and deportation, the documents state. Bond was set at $2 million, and an initial hearing is scheduled for next week.
An attorney who represented Fuentes at Wednesday’s hearing did not immediately reply to a request for comment Wednesday evening.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that the charge is connected to the case highlighted by President Joe Biden and held up as an example by abortion rights advocates of the dangers of the end of a constitutional right to abortion.
“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 last week. “Ten years old — 10 years old — raped, six weeks pregnant, already traumatized, was forced to travel to another state.”
The girls' situation began drawing attention after The Indianapolis Star reported that an Indianapolis physician who provides abortion services, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, said she had treated a 10-year-old rape victim. She said the girl had to travel from Ohio to Indiana after Ohio's "fetal heartbeat" law was enacted hours after the Supreme Court's ruling on Roe last month.