It was a news story that burst onto the national headlines shortly after the Supreme Court issued its decision that Roe v. Wade was unconstitutional and abortion is an issue to be handled by the states.
The details were disturbing: A 10-year-old girl in Indiana was allegedly raped and impregnated, and thus, was referred to Ohio for an abortion to terminate the pregnancy.
The mother now says that “everything is a lie” about the headline-grabbing story. She was interviewed behind a door by Telemundo following the father’s confession for the crime. MRC Latino shared the footage.
“Did the girl live here as well?” the mother was asked.
“Yes, but she’s fine,” the mother responded. “Everything they’re saying against him is a lie.”
The mother states that she has not filed charges against the lead suspect Gerson Fuentes, a 27-year-old illegal immigrant who has confessed to the crime.
Fuentes has been charged with rape, which is a first-degree felony in Ohio. The 10-year-old girl identified Fuentes as the one who impregnated her, according to a detective present at the arraignment in Franklin County Municipal Court on Wednesday.
The 10-year-old girl underwent an abortion in Indianapolis on June 30, Detective Jeffrey Huhn said.
At the heart of the controversy was that Ohio’s law purportedly did not have a rape or incest exemption. However, there is a health exemption that would potentially apply to the 10-year-old child.
The Indiana doctor, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, may have ignored mandatory reporting to the authorities while facilitating an abortion across state lines to Ohio.
The Indiana Attorney General now vows to investigate Dr. Caitlin Bernard for potential wrongdoing or error in professional judgment.
“We’re gathering the evidence as we speak, and we’re going to fight this to the end, including looking at her licensure if she failed to report. And in Indiana it’s a crime … to intentionally not report,” state Attorney General Todd Rokita told Fox News on Wednesday night. “This is a child, and there’s a strong public interest in understanding if someone under the age of 16 or under the age of 18 or really any woman is having abortion in our state. And then if a child is being sexually abused, of course parents need to know. Authorities need to know. Public policy experts need to know.”
Politico noted that there are strict reporting requirements in both Ohio and Indiana for abortions and rape allegations. The Indiana AG threatened criminal charges in a letter released on Thursday. The letter to Gov. Eric Holcomb called for records from the Indiana Department of Public Health and the Department of Child Services to determine whether Dr. Bernard filed a report within the required three-day window, the report adds.
“If Dr. Bernard has failed to file the required reports on time, she has committed an offense, the consequences of which could include criminal prosecution and licensing repercussions,” the letter said.
The Indianapolis Star’s original report was so hard to establish factually that even the Washington Post’s fact-checker Glenn Kessler said it was “a very difficult story to check.”
However, there is a paternal DNA test underway that will all-but-resolve who committed the rape. If it turns out that it is anyone but Fuentes responsible, the mainstream media will have some serious explaining to do.
Syndicated with licensed permission from Becker News. Follow Becker News on Telegram.
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