Gerson Fuentes, a 28-year-old man from Ohio, was sentenced to life in jail with the potential of parole on Wednesday after being charged with raping a younger woman who sought an abortion final 12 months.
Fuentes filed a plea of responsible on two counts of rape in Franklin County Widespread Pleas Court docket as a part of an settlement with prosecutors to advocate life imprisonment with the potential of parole, in keeping with video from the courtroom.
He’s anticipated to spend no less than 25 years behind bars. As a Guatemalan citizen, he would doubtless face deportation if paroled.
Choose Julie Lynch adopted the sentencing suggestion, despite the fact that she was not required to, with due respect for the woman’s household.
“If that household hadn’t begged me to observe this joint suggestion, this by no means would have occurred,” Lynch mentioned on the sentencing.
The woman, whose title will not be identified, was 9 when she was raped and turned 10 earlier than having an abortion in neighboring Indiana. Her house state of Ohio instantly enacted strict abortion restrictions after the Supreme Court docket overturned its determination in Roe v. Wade in June 2022, revoking the constitutional proper to abortion and making it tough even for somebody in such an excessive state of affairs to entry care .
The woman’s mom took her to Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indiana doctor who spoke to The Indianapolis Star final summer season after the younger affected person was referred to her by an Ohio colleague, drawing nationwide consideration.
The woman was then six weeks and three days pregnant; Ohio strictly banned abortion after six weeks with a called misleading “fetal heartbeat” legislation.
However police arrested Fuentes in July 2022. Data present a Columbus police detective mentioned Fuentes confessed to raping the woman, although he initially pleaded not responsible to rape expenses. His trial was scheduled to start in January, however was postponed pending plea negotiations and an investigation.
As a result of he raised the alarm about the actual results of post-Roe abortion restrictions, Bernard was reprimanded by the Indiana state medical licensing board.
