Source: (Photo: sakhorn38/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, Ohio — You may remember the case of the 10-year-old girl from Ohio who was raped and later brought to Indiana for an abortion. The man who raped her has been sentenced to life in prison.
Gerson Fuentes made a plea deal with prosecutors, in which he pled guilty and the court will now have the option to consider Fuentes for parole after he serves at least 25 years behind bars. Fuentes was arrested last July on rape charges and eventually admitted to raping the girl at least twice, beginning when she was 9-years-old.
The girl’s rape case became headline news around the world after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, with President Joe Biden even using the case as an example as to why abortion should be federally protected.
The girl was brought to Indiana because of Ohio’s strict abortion limitations, which had just gone into effect at the time.
The abortion story was broken by an Indianapolis reporter, who was told about the abortion by Dr. Caitlin Bernard in Indianapolis. Dr. Bernard, who performed the abortion, reported the rape to authorities, but was later reprimanded by the state Medical Licensing Board, which ruled Bernard did violate some privacy policies.
Dr. Bernard had to pay a fine and received that letter of reprimand, but her license was not revoked and more severe punishments were not handed down, as Indiana’s Attorney General Todd Rokita wanted.
The girl, now 11, has never been identified.
