The illegal immigrant who was arrested last week and accused of raping a 10-year-old girl, whose story made national news in relation to her getting an abortion, has been indicted.
Gerson Fuentes, 27, was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday in Franklin County, Ohio, on two counts of felony rape, CNN reported. As The Daily Wire previously reported, Fuentes had allegedly confessed to raping the girl on at least two occasions, impregnating her.
The girl’s story made national news after an Indiana abortion doctor told the Indianapolis Star that a child abuse doctor in Ohio had referred the girl to her because Ohio law wouldn’t allow the young girl to get an abortion. Ohio Attorney General David Yost, when previously expressing skepticism about the story, said that if the girl had become pregnant, Ohio law would not prevent her from having an abortion.
During a hearing on July 13, police said Fuentes confessed to raping the girl, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The outlet noted that police were informed of the girl’s pregnancy after her mother reported it to Franklin County Children Services on June 22.
Columbus Police Det. Jeffrey Huhn testified during Fuentes’ arraignment that the young girl received an abortion in Indianapolis. DNA from the Indianapolis clinic that performed the abortion is still being tested to confirm Fuentes committed the crime, he said. The young girl’s siblings are also being tested.
Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Cynthia Ebner set Fuentes’ bail at $2 million, saying the suspect is a possible flight risk and danger to the child.
Following news of the arrest, Yost released a short statement saying, “We rejoice anytime a child rapist is taken off the streets,” according to the Dispatch.
Yost later added that he’s “absolutely delighted that this monster has been taken off the street. If convicted, he should spend the rest of his life in prison.”
The Dispatch reported that Fuentes allegedly admitted through an interpreter to raping the girl in a confession to detectives. The young victim also reportedly told police that Fuentes was the father of her unborn child. Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Dan Meyer also testified at Wednesday’s hearing that the girl had recently turned 10, meaning she was probably nine years old when she became pregnant.
Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the doctor who performed the young girl’s abortion in Indiana, filed a report with authorities the day after the Star published her story and three days after she said she had provided the young girl with abortion pills, which falls within Indiana’s three-day window to report a crime.