Gerson Fuentes, a 28-year-old Ohio man, received a life sentence in prison with the possibility of parole Wednesday after being charged with raping a young girl who then sought an abortion last year.
Fuentes entered a guilty plea on two counts of rape in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court as part of an agreement with prosecutors to recommend a life sentence with the possibility of parole, according to video from the courtroom.
He is expected to spend at least 25 years behind bars. As a Guatemalan national, he would likely face deportation if paroled.
Judge Julie Lynch followed the sentencing recommendation even though she was not required to do so, crediting the girl’s family.
“If that family hadn’t begged me to take this joint recommendation, this would never be happening,” Lynch said at the sentencing.
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The girl, who has not been named, was 9 when she was raped and turned 10 before getting an abortion in neighboring Indiana. Her home state of Ohio had immediately enacted severe abortion restrictions after the Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned its ruling in Roe v. Wade, revoking the constitutional right to an abortion and making it difficult even for someone in such an extreme situation to access care.
The girl’s mother took her to Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indiana physician who spoke to The Indianapolis Star last summer after the young patient was referred to her by an Ohio colleague, drawing national attention.
The girl was six weeks and three days pregnant at the time; Ohio strictly outlawed abortion after six weeks with a misleadingly named “fetal heartbeat” law.
But police arrested Fuentes in July 2022. Records show that a detective with the Columbus police said Fuentes confessed to raping the girl, although he initially pleaded not guilty to rape charges. His trial was set to begin in January, but was delayed pending plea negotiations and investigation.
For raising the alarm on the real-life effects of abortion restrictions after Roe, Bernard received a reprimand from Indiana’s state medical licensing board.
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