An Ohio man pleaded guilty to raping a then-9-year-old girl who sought an out-of-state abortion in what became a flashpoint in the national abortion rights debate.
An Ohio man pleaded guilty to raping a then-9-year-old girl who later sought an out-of-state abortion in a case that became a flashpoint in the national abortion rights debate after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Gerson Fuentes, 28, was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to two counts of rape of a child under 10. He has the possibility of parole after 25 years, Franklin County Judge Julie Lynch said.
Fuentes was arrested last year after the victim identified him as the assailant, according to the complaint. He reportedly confessed to the rape when detectives brought him to police headquarters for a saliva test, the complaint said.
Fuentes initially pleaded not guilty to the crime and a trial was scheduled to begin Wednesday when he appeared in court and changed his plea. Fuentes will be registered as a sex offender for life and will be on supervised release for five years if released.
Lynch said in court that the girl’s family agreed to the jointly recommended sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after a minimum of 25 years.
“This is a hard pill for this court to swallow, to take this joint recommendation,” Lynch said. “If that family hadn’t begged me to take this joint recommendation, this would never have happened.”
Defense attorney Zachary Olah told reporters in court that Fuentes was “anxious to get it resolved.
