Ohio grand jury indicts man accused in rape of 10-year-old at center of Indiana abortion controversy

The man who was accused of raping and impregnating a 10-year-old girl in Ohio, who later traveled to Indiana to get an abortion, was indicted on two felony counts of rape on Thursday.

A grand jury in Columbus issued the indictment on the two felony counts. Gerson Fuentes, 27, was charged with the rape earlier this month after police said that he confessed to raping the girl twice.

After becoming pregnant, the girl was forced to travel to Indiana for an abortion due to an Ohio law which bans the procedure after fetal cardiac activity is detected, usually about six weeks into a pregnancy.

The case has sparked national attention and incited further outrage among Democrats and abortion rights advocates following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last month.

Critics say that the court’s ruling, which leaves abortion rights up to the states, could result in a large number of “deserts” in which people seeking abortions are forced to travel hundreds of miles to other states to receive the procedure.

President Biden highlighted the case during an address announcing an executive order aiming to safeguard abortion rights.

“Raped, six weeks pregnant. Already traumatized. Was forced to travel to another state. Imagine being that little girl,” the president said.

The grand jury’s indictment comes days after the doctor who provided the abortion to the 10-year-old girl moved to sue Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) for “false and misleading statements about alleged misconduct.”

Fuentes’s arraignment is set for Monday.