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On Monday, 27-year-old Gerson Fuentes, an Ohio resident, pleaded not guilty to the abuse-related felony charges leveled against him by state prosecutors. He was accused of s*xually assaulting and impregnating a 10-year-old girl.
It was reported that the 10-year-old was the daughter of a woman Fuentes had been dating. He was arrested on July 12, 2022 when the young girl unsuccessfully sought an abortion in Ohio.
Authorities believe she was a victim of Fuentes' abuse since she was nine.
The case has gained a lot of attention and caused some controversy as well. Pro-choice activists say the case is a prime example of why Roe V. Wade shouldn't have been overturned as it gives states the right to make abortions illegal.
Details of the case against Gerson Fuentes
Gerson Fuentes is allegedly an undocumented migrant from Guatemala. He reportedly had close ties with the 10-year-old's family and was in a romantic relationship with her mother for over a year.
Gerson Fuentes allegedly tried to get the young girl's pregnancy aborted approximately six weeks after it became illegal in the state of Ohio. The abortion was thus, denied. However, the 10-year-old successfully had the procedure performed on her in the state of Indiana.
The young girl's pregnancy awoke suspicion among doctors, which led to an investigation into Fuentes and the circumstances around the pregnancy.
At Fuentes' arraignment, Detective Jeffrey Hunh testified against him and claimed that the suspect had confessed to the crime in the interrogation room. According to the affidavit, the 10-year-old girl also identified Gerson Fuentes as her assaulter on July 6, 2022, six days before the suspect's arrest.
Lourdes Nava Gomez, the 10-year-old girl's mother, spoke to the Latin news organization Noticias Telemundo. She said that Fuentes is being falsely implicated for the crime by the media and authorities.
She added that everything authorities were "saying against him is a lie."
However, in response to Gomez' defense of Fuentes, members of the Latino community spoke out against her across online platforms and news outlets. An anonymous woman from the Latin-American community spoke to the Sussi Report and condemned both Gomez and Fuentes.
She said:
"The Latino community is angry. We don't respect the mother or the abuser. We are all infuriated by this. We immigrate to have a better life and give our children better lives. This mother needs to be behind bars."
Since there is evidence that Fuentes entered the country illegally, he won't be released from police custody even if he is able to pay his $2 million bond.
