Man accused of raping Ohio girl who was forced to travel out of state for abortion is indicted

Victim was revealed to have been nine-years-old when alleged rapes took place

The 27-year-old man accused of raping a 9-year-old Ohio girl, who was forced to travel to Indiana for an abortion, has been indicted on two felony rape charges by a grand jury.

Gerson Fuentes is accused of raping the victim on two occasions, once between 1 January and 11 May, and again on 12 May, according to Franklin County prosecutor G Gary Tyack.

The victim was nine years old at the time, and has since turned 10.

Mr Fuentes was due to appear for a pre-trial hearing in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday morning, but the court date was cancelled after he was indicted.

The young girl’s abortion was first reported in the Indianapolis Star on 1 July. Republicans and right-wing media personalities claimed it had been “fabricated” amid the fallout from Roe v Wade being overturned.

Ohio’s abortion laws do not have exceptions for cases of incest and rape or those involving minors.

Fox News host Jesse Watters had been among those to rubbish the story earlier this month and described the claims as a “hoax” created by the “mainstream media” and Democrats to stoke backlash against the Supreme Court.

Ohio’s so-called “heartbeat” bill, which forbids abortions after the six week mark, was introduced in the hours after the Supreme Court ruling to overturn abortion rights guaranteed by the decision in Roe v Wade on 24 June.

Mr Fuemtes is due to appear again in court on Monday where he is expected to be arraigned on new charges.

According to court records he has not entered a plea. Nor was it clear if he had a lawyer.

Abortions beyond six weeks were banned in Ohio following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade on 24 June, with no exceptions in the state for cases of rape or incest.

According to investigator Detective Jeffrey Huhn who testified at last week’s hearing, Mr Fuentes has confessed to raping the girl at least twice.

He is being held on $2m bond.

Police were first alerted to the case after the girl’s mother made a referral with Franklin County Children Services on 22 June for her daughter to receive an abortion, Detective Huhn told the last hearing.

The Department of Homeland Security has said that Mr Fuentes is an undocumented migrant.

Additional reporting by Reuters