An Indiana abortion provider is under investigation over whether she reported the rape of a 10-year-old Ohio girl as required by law.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said Wednesday that his office is looking into Dr. Caitlin Bernard, who told the Indianapolis Star earlier this month that she treated the girl in Indiana because the child was unable to obtain an abortion in Ohio.
“We’re gathering the information, 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 in Indiana,” said Mr. Rokita on Fox News Channel. “It’s a crime to not report.”
Police arrested 27-year-old Gerson Fuentes in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday.
He was charged with rape, a first-degree felony, after he confessed through an interpreter to raping the girl at least twice, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
The suspect is being held at Franklin County Jail on a $2 million bail. The prosecution had asked for him to be held without bond because he is believed to be in the country illegally.
SEE ALSO: Man arrested for rape of preteen girl who Biden cited as victim of Ohio abortion law
Mr. Rokita took a shot at the Biden administration’s loose border security, suggesting that none of this would have happened if the nation’s immigration laws had been enforced.
“I shouldn’t be here, right?” Mr. Rokita said in his appearance on “Jesse Watters Primetime.” “This is an illegal immigration issue because … of Biden’s lawlessness at the border and everything going on down there.”
He added that this case is an example of “why Indiana as a non-border state has filed several independent lawsuits on that.”
In 2018, Indiana Right to Life reported that 48 complaints were filed against nine abortion providers, including Dr. Bernard, for violating state law by failing to report procedures on girls under 16 to state health authorities within three days of the abortion, as flagged by PJ Media’s Megan Fox.
“Then we have the rape, and then we have this abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failing to report,” Mr. Rokita said.
Indiana AG now says they are looking into the doctor pic.twitter.com/MMFsvBRRXs
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 13, 2022
At Wednesday’s arraignment, Columbus Police Detective Jeffrey Huhn said the girl’s mother made a June 22 report to Franklin County Children Services. The child underwent an abortion on June 30 in Indianapolis.
“Huhn also testified that DNA from the clinic in Indianapolis is being tested against samples from Fuentes, as well as the child’s siblings, to confirm contribution to the aborted fetus,” the Dispatch said.
Dr. Bernard, who has not commented publicly since the July 1 story in the IndyStar, is reportedly the subject of a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA] complaint for leaking the story, according to Fox News.
Indiana University Health, where Dr. Bernard works, declined to comment in response to a request Wednesday from the Washington Times.
Dr. Bernard said the girl was unable to obtain an abortion in Ohio because she was six weeks and three days pregnant, prompting President Biden to slam Ohio’s heartbeat law at a Friday ceremony to sign an executive order on abortion access.
“This isn’t some imagined horror, it’s already happening,” Mr. Biden said. “Ten years old, raped, six weeks pregnant. Already traumatized, then forced to travel to another state.”
Mr. Rokita denounced the president’s citing of the case and chided Dr. Bernard for making public information about the case that must remain private.
“This girl was politicized, politicized for the gain of killing more babies. That was the goal, and this abortion activist is out there front and center,” referring to Dr. Bernard.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Monday that the girl would have been able to obtain an abortion in Ohio because the heartbeat law allows exceptions for medical emergencies.
He and others had expressed skepticism about the story’s authenticity after fact-checks by Snopes and the Washington Post were unable to confirm the report, but praised Columbus police on Wednesday for the arrest.
“My heart aches for the pain suffered by this young child,” Mr. Yost said in a statement. “I am grateful for the diligent work of the Columbus Police Department in securing a confession and getting a rapist off the street.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled the first name of suspect Gerson Fuentes.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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