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More than a year after a 10-year-old Columbus, Ohio girl became the center of a national debate because she traveled travel to Indiana for an abortion, the man who admitted to raping and impregnating her will spend at least 25-30 years in prison.
Gerson Fuentes, 28, a Guatemalan national with a Columbus address, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape in court Wednesday.
Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Dan Meyer said Fuentes’ plea was in exchange for a jointly recommended sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after a minimum of 25 years. Under Ohio’s Reagan Tokes Act, Fuentes could get up to an additional five years before he goes before a parole board if he misbehaves in prison.
Judge Julie Lynch was not required to abide by the recommendation.
Lynch said the girl’s family “begged” her to agree to the jointly recommended sentence, a “very hard pill for this court to swallow,” she said. Lynch could have sentenced Fuentes to life in prison without the opportunity for parole.
“Anyone who’s ever been in this courtroom for the last 20 years knows how this court feels about these babies, young people, being violated,” Lynch said. “However, today, by the request of the family, this court will be sentencing without comment and everyone knows how hard that’s going to be. Because the court considers this the worst of the offense.”
Man sentenced for rape was the boyfriend of the girl’s mother
Lynch sentenced Fuentes to life in prison with the possibility of receiving parole in 25 to 30 years, after which Fuentes could be deported. Fuentes will also be required to register as a Tier III sex offender for the remainder of his life.
Prosecutors said DNA evidence indicates Fuentes, whom authorities have identified as the boyfriend of the girl’s mother, impregnated her.
After the court hearing, Fuentes’ defense attorney, Zachary Olah, said that his client, who admitted the two sexual assaults to the police, has been cooperative since the beginning.
“He was anxious to get this resolved, and we’re happy we were able to get it done today for everybody involved,” Olah said.
A victim at the center of a national abortion debate
The young girl at the center of this case became a flash point in the state and national abortion debate after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022. Ohio’s trigger ban on abortions after six weeks necessitated her trip across the state line.
The Indianapolis Star, a member of the USA TODAY Network, first reported on July 1, 2022, that Dr. Caitlin Bernard performed an abortion on a 10-year-old patient from Ohio who was a few days past six weeks pregnant and who couldn’t then legally obtain an abortion in her home state.
In the weeks after that, Democrats and President Joe Biden pointed to the girl’s case as a reason to protect abortion access, while some Republican lawmakers and officials publicly doubted the girl’s existence. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost called the story likely “fabricated.”
On July 13, 2022, The Columbus Dispatch, also of the USA TODAY Network, reported on Fuentes’ arraignment after his arrest on rape charges.
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DNA evidence pointed to Fuentes, prosecutors say
Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Daniel Lenert said in court that the victim went to see her primary care doctor on June 22 — just two days before the Supreme Court’s decision — complaining of fatigue and other symptoms. The doctor gave her a pregnancy test, which came back positive.
The girl was taken for a forensic exam at The Center for Family Safety and Healing at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, but at that time did not disclose who assaulted her, Lenert said.
She was about six weeks and four days into her pregnancy, according to Lenert, so she was likely assaulted on or about May 12, 2022, when she was 9 years old.
After the abortion was completed in Indianapolis on July 1, Columbus police traveled to Indiana and retrieved the “product of conception” for DNA analysis, Lenert said.
A few days later, Columbus police went to the child’s residence and retrieved DNA samples from all the men living there, including Fuentes, according to Lenert.
When police brought Fuentes in for another DNA swab and to be interviewed on July 12, he admitted to raping the child on two separate occasions, Lenert said.
Preliminary DNA results indicating Fuentes impregnated the girl have since been confirmed, Lenert said.
Prosecutors confirmed the victim and her family were not present in court but declined to comment further.
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How often are children sexually assaulted?
The girl’s public case led to a conversation about the taboo topic of sexual assault and abuse of children.
After the girl’s existence was confirmed, some sought to paint her story as a tragic anomaly. The Dispatch and the Cincinnati Enquirer, another member of the USA TODAY Network, investigated how many children are victims of sexual abuse in Ohio and found it common.
The Dispatch and Enquirer findings showed that more than 22,000 children were listed as sexual violence victims in Ohio law enforcement reports between 2017 and 2021. Of those, more than 12,000 victims were 12 years old or younger.
Ohio’s ban on abortion after six weeks is on hold — for now
Ohioans can currently legally obtain an abortion before 22 weeks into pregnancy due to a Hamilton County judge putting the Republican-controlled General Assembly’s restrictions on hold for now, but an appeal is pending with the Ohio Supreme Court.
The 10-year-old Columbus girl sought an abortion in late June 2022 during the 82 days that an Ohio law banned doctors from performing abortions, after an ultrasound detected embryonic cardiac activity.
Reporter Bethany Bruner of the Columbus Dispatch, a member of the USA TODAY Network, contributed to this report. USA TODAY reporter Terry Collins also contributed.
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