An illegal alien, reportedly from Guatemala, who has lived in Columbus, Ohio, for the past seven years has been arrested and charged with raping and impregnating a 10-year-old girl.
The Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday Gerson Fuentes, 27, who has been working in a café, confessed to raping the child on at least two occasions and has been charged with rape, a first-degree felony in Ohio.
The case of the 10-year-old girl went viral after abortion activist Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the sole source of the story, told the Indianapolis Star a “child abuse doctor” from Ohio contacted her in Indiana because a minor girl had been raped and could not obtain an abortion in Ohio since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Despite numerous inquiries into the vague story, Bernard did not share any further details, including whether or not she or her Ohio colleague made a report of the alleged rape to law enforcement or child protective services. She appeared on MSNBC and discussed the 10-year-old girl’s case in the context of targeting states that had restricted or banned abortion following the Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Other pro-abortion media and, ultimately, Joe Biden himself, used the story of the alleged rape of the young girl to attempt to shame states with abortion restrictions or bans following the Court’s decision. Biden repeated the claim in an effort to justify his executive order attempting to undermine that ruling.
The Dispatch reported:
Columbus police were made aware of the girl’s pregnancy through a referral by Franklin County Children Services that was made by her mother on June 22, Det. Jeffrey Huhn testified Wednesday morning at Fuentes’ arraignment. On June 30, the girl underwent a medical abortion in Indianapolis, Huhn said.
As late as Monday evening, however, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost told Fox News there was no evidence a 10-year-old girl in his state had been raped, become pregnant, and traveled to Indiana for an abortion.
“Not a whisper,” Yost said. “We have a decentralized law enforcement system in Ohio, but we have regular contact with prosecutors and local police and sheriffs. Not a whisper anywhere.”
BREAKING: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says there is "not a whisper" that a 10-year-old child was raped and impregnated, there has been no request for crime lab results, and that Ohio's heartbeat law would have allowed such a young girl to get an abortion in the state. pic.twitter.com/oIhJzNiq52
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 11, 2022
Yost also corrected one of the primary pieces of the claim Biden repeated – that the 10-year-old girl had to leave Ohio to obtain an abortion because of the state’s Heartbeat law.
“Ohio’s Heartbeat law has a medical emergency exception, broader than just the life of the mother,” the attorney general asserted. “This young girl, if she exists and if this horrible thing actually happened to her – it breaks my heart to think about it – she did not have to leave Ohio to find treatment.”
In a statement Wednesday, Yost said regarding Columbus Police Department’s arrest of Fuentes, “I am grateful for the diligent work of the Columbus Police Department in securing a confession and getting a rapist off the street.”
AG Yost today issued the following statement regarding Columbus Police Department's arrest of the rapist that impregnated a 10-year-old victim. pic.twitter.com/UPNM1pK3ks
— Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (@OhioAG) July 13, 2022
Fox News reported Wednesday a source from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed Fuentes is in the United States illegally.
The report noted:
The source told Fox that Fuentes is a Guatemalan national in the country illegally and that ICE has placed a detainer on Fuentes, which is a request he eventually be handed over to the agency for removal proceedings.
ICE later confirmed to Fox News Digital that Fuentes is in the U.S. unlawfully.
NEW: Per ICE source, Gerson Fuentes, the man charged with raping & impregnating a 10-year-old girl in Ohio, is a Guatemalan national in the U.S. illegally & ICE has placed a detainer on him with local law enforcement. The victim later traveled to Indiana for an abortion. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/NWftShZejw
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 13, 2022
In January 2017, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther (D) and City Council President Zach Klein announced the city’s “commitment to accepting refugees regardless of immigration status.”
“Our immigrant population is part of the fabric of what makes Columbus so vibrant,” Ginther said. “They are our neighbors. We must not turn our backs on them, now or ever.”
Ginther said he would issue an executive order to “prohibit the detention of anyone unless a warrant exists or a criminal violation was observed,” a press statement said.
“In addition, the executive order will not allow city money, equipment or personnel to be used for detecting or apprehending someone or denying them city services based on immigration status,” the statement added.
In a reaction to Fuentes’ arrest, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) tweeted, “Gershon Fuentes should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Gershon Fuentes should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. https://t.co/TBZ2avgeD3
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 13, 2022
With attention now shifted from abortion to Fuentes’ status as an illegal alien, political commentator Stephen Miller responded, “Undocumented immigrants raping 10 year old girls is probably not the narrative they want on this so expect that inconvenient fact to be dropped.”
Undocumented immigrants raping 10 year old girls is probably not the narrative they want on this so expect that inconvenient fact to be dropped.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 13, 2022
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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Gerson Fuentes” by Franklin County Jail.
