Man arrested for raping 10-year-old in Ohio

The story of a girl from Ohio who was raped and had to travel to a neighboring state to terminate an unwanted pregnancy spread around the world. But many anti-abortionists questioned the incident. Wrongly.

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Die Gynecologist Caitlin Bernard from Indianapolis (Indiana) received a call from a medical professional in the neighboring state of Ohio in late June. She has a 10-year-old patient who is six weeks and three days pregnant after being raped, the person said. In Ohio, however, abortions are now only permitted up to the sixth week and there are no exceptions, even in the case of child rape. Could Bernard help?

She could and she would. The child traveled to Indiana, where abortion laws are still liberal for the time being, and the gynecologist terminated the unwanted pregnancy in early July. Bernard told the story to the local newspaper Indianapolis Star – another example of the drastic consequences of a landmark decision by the Supreme Court in Washington, which overturned national abortion rights at the end of June.

The story caught the eye of many readers. The media in Great Britain, Israel and Switzerland picked them up, repeating the statements made by Bernard, who was the only person who spoke publicly about the incident. A few days ago, during a White House address, even President Joe Biden mentioned the young girl from Ohio. ‘Ten years old. Raped, six weeks pregnant. Already traumatized. Had to travel to another state. Imagine you’re that little girl,” the Democrat said.

Credibility of the gynecologist questioned

Biden used the story to stir up sentiment against “reactionary” Republicans who wanted to ban abortion across the country. The response from this camp was not long in coming. It summarily questioned the credibility of well-known abortion advocate Bernard – to cast doubt on the Pro Choice movement, which is working to legalize abortion nationwide.

The Ohio Attorney General said in an interview with a group of local newspapers on Tuesday that he had not the slightest evidence that the incident Bernard described had happened. “Every day that goes by makes it more likely that this is an invention,” said Dave Yost, a Republican and anti-abortion activist.

Some of his party friends went a step further and accused the “Indianapolis Star” of deliberately spreading false information. The business newspaper “Wall Street Journal” also leaned heavily out of the window. The renowned newspaper published an opinion piece in Wednesday’s edition in which it accused Biden of stoking the emotions of America’s left with the help of an “unlikely” story.

27-year-old man confesses to two rapes

On Wednesday, however, it became apparent that the incident described by Bernard happened. In a local court in Columbus (Ohio), the investigative authorities presented a 27-year-old man from Central America who is said to have twice raped a 10-year-old girl. The child then traveled to Indianapolis to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, a police officer said in court.

The accused’s lawyer argued that there was no medical evidence that the man was responsible for the child’s pregnancy. (The result of the DNA test is still pending.) After a half-hour court hearing, the judge nevertheless decided to keep the only suspect – who is said to be in the USA without valid residence documents – behind bars for the time being. She set bail at a whopping $2 million.

No apology from Ohio’s Attorney General

Justice Minister Yost expressed his satisfaction in a brief statement that the police had managed to arrest a confessed rapist. The Republican expressed his sympathy for the victim without apologizing for his previous statements.