Indiana Attorney General Probing Whether Doctor Reported Rape of Young Ohio Girl

Gerson Fuentes in a mugshot dated July 12, 2022. Columbus Police Department via The Epoch Times

Indiana’s attorney general said on July 14 that he’s investigating whether the doctor who first made public that a 10-year-old girl who was raped in Ohio and received an abortion in Indiana reported the crime.

Dr. Caitlin Bernard was named as the source of a July 1 story by the Indianapolis Star. Bernard told the paper that she was contacted by a child abuse doctor in Ohio who had a 10-year-old patient and that the patient was pregnant. The article suggested Bernard, who performs abortions, performed an abortion.

An illegal immigrant was arrested about two weeks later for allegedly raping the girl in Columbus.

“Aside from the horror caused here by illegal immigration, we are investigating this situation and are waiting for the relevant documents to prove if the abortion and/or the abuse were reported, as Dr. Caitlin Bernard had requirements to do both under Indiana law,” Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a Republican, said in a statement.

“The failure to do so constitutes a crime in Indiana, and her behavior could also affect her licensure. Additionally, if a HIPAA violation did occur, that may affect next steps as well. I will not relent in the pursuit of the truth.”

HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a federal law that governs the disclosure of details about patients.

Indiana law requires physicians to report to child services or law enforcement the pregnancy of a girl under the age of 15 because of the potential for child abuse. Failure to report is a class B misdemeanor. A doctor who aborts the pregnancy of a girl under 16 must file a report with the Indiana Department of Health and Indiana Department of Child Services within three days.

The phone number listed for Bernard on the website of the Indiana University School of Medicine, where she is an assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology, was not working on Thursday. A spokeswoman for the university has not responded to requests for comment.

“My heart breaks for all survivors of sexual assault and abuse,” Bernard wrote on Twitter this week. “I am so sad that our country is failing them when they need us most. Doctors must be able to give people the medical care they need, when and where they need it.”

Mother Reported Rape

According to a Columbus Police Department detective, the girl was raped in May and received an abortion in Indianapolis on June 30.

Gerson Fuentes was arrested on July 12 and charged with rape of a child under the age of 13.

The rape was reported to the Franklin County Children Services by the victim’s mother, the detective said during a court hearing.

A probable cause statement obtained by The Epoch Times says Fuentes confessed and the detective said that the girl identified him as the baby’s father.

A public defender representing the man told the court that “these allegations are very serious and Mr. Fuentes takes these allegations very seriously,” but argued his client should not be denied bond, as prosecutors requested.

The judge ultimately granted a $2 million bond, but Fuentes remains held behind bars, according to jail records.