Many criticized for claiming the story of the raped 10-year old Ohio girl was false after authorities arrest suspect

Some news outlets – and some politicians on Capitol Hill – are being called upon to walk back their claims that the story of a ten-year old rape victim in Ohio who travelled to Indiana to undergo an abortion was fabricated for partisan reasons after authorities announced the arrest of a suspect in the case.

The 27-year old suspect, Gerson Fuentes, was taken into custody on Tuesday and confessed to raping the ten-year old girl, who became pregnant as a result, on at least two occasions. The suspect’s listed address is the same address as his young victim.

When a Telemundo reporter attempted to interview the mother at the home, the woman remained hidden behind the door and alleged the claims against Fuentes were lies. “She’s my daughter,” said the woman of the young victim. “She’s fine. Everything that they’re saying against him is a lie.”

Several news outlets published stories this week attempting to fact-check the allegation that a ten-year old girl had been escorted across state lines to have an abortion after she was raped. The story had been used in multiple high-profile speaking engagements such as television news shows and even in an address by President Biden. 

Fox News hosts and commentators as well as some Republicans on Capitol Hill had doubted whether the story was authentic and said it may be fabricated in order to rile up pro-choice voters.

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan has since deleted a Tweet in which he flatly called the story a lie, was confronted by CNN and refused to walk back the claim that the story was false, or to apologize, but did attempt several times to turn attention to the fact the suspect is allegedly an undocumented immigrant.