Gerson Fuentes is said to have confessed to police that he raped the girl at least twice
(Picture: via REUTERS)An Ohio man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl who had to travel to a neighboring state for an abortion.
The case was highlighted by Joe Biden in criticising a US supreme court decision overturning Roe v Wade and eliminating a nationwide right to abortion.
The alleged victim was forced to travel from Ohio - where the overturn of Roe v Wade has made the procedure illegal - to neighbouring state Indiana.
Gerson Fuentes, 27, was arrested on Tuesday and was subject of a preliminary hearing on Wednesday when a police investigator testified that Fuentes had admitted to raping the girl at least twice. He added that the victim underwent an abortion on June 30.
Ohio’s Republican-led state laws now ban abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy. The girl was three days past the six-week limit, which does not include exceptions for rape or incest.
“Just imagine being that little girl – 10 years old,” Mr Biden said on Friday in a White House press conference.
Fuentes is set to appear at another preliminary hearing on July 22.
The Republican Ohio attorney general Dave Yost said in a statement: “My heart aches for the pain suffered by this young child. I am grateful for the diligent work of the Columbus police department.”
