Ohio’s attorney general said Monday that his office has heard “not a whisper” about the reported case of a 10-year-old girl who was raped and had to travel out of state to get an abortion because of Ohio’s so-called “trigger” law — a viral story that was cited by President Biden last week.
“We have a decentralized law enforcement system in Ohio, but we are in regular contact with prosecutors and local police and sheriffs,” Dave Yost told Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.” “Nowhere Whisper”.
Yost then noted that his office runs Buckeye State’s crime lab and added, “Any case like this you’re going to have a rape kit, you’re going to have biological evidence and you’re going to be looking for DNA analysis, which is what we do most of the DNA analysis in Ohio. There is no request for analysis of a case that looks like this.’
“I know our prosecutors and our cops in this state,” Yost continued. “There is not one of them who will not turn over every stone in their jurisdiction if there is even the slightest hint that it happened there.”
Dave Yost claims law enforcement in Ohio is unaware of a rape case involving a 10-year-old girl. Kate Dingley/Bloomberg via Getty Images
On July 1, the Indianapolis Star reported that local obstetrician Dr. Caitlin Bernard had been contacted four days earlier by a “child abuse doctor” from Ohio who told Bernard they had just seen a 10-year-old a patient who was six weeks and three days pregnant.
According to the story, that meant the girl was three days too late to have an abortion under Ohio’s new law, which went into effect after the Supreme Court’s June 24 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
The Star reported that Bernard had taken care of the baby girl, but did not say whether the child underwent an abortion or another procedure. The publication also did not identify the doctor who told Bernard about the case, and Bernard appears to be the sole source of the story.
“Any case like this you’re going to have a rape kit, you’re going to have biological evidence,” Dave Yost told Fox News.Fox News
Under Ohio law, physicians are required to report any case of known or suspected child abuse or neglect, including “physical or mental injury sustained [or] injury.”
If, as Yost claims, law enforcement is unaware of a rape case involving a 10-year-old girl, that suggests either the Ohio doctor violated state law by not reporting the crime, or Bernard fabricated the incident to a gullible reporter. .
“We don’t know who the original doctor was in Ohio, if there was one,” Yost told Waters Monday night. “But most importantly, it’s a crime — if you’re a mandated reporter — not to report.”
The report said the 10-year-old patient was six weeks and three days pregnant, three days too late to get an abortion under Ohio’s new law. AJ Mast/AP Ohio’s new law went into effect after the Supreme Court’s June 24 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Barbara J. Perenik / The Columbus Dispatch via AP
Several news outlets and fact-checking websites, including the Washington Post and Snopes, were unable to independently verify the Star’s report. The Post also reached out to Bernard last week, but did not hear back.
As social media users and conservative websites began raising questions about the story Friday, Biden cited the report in a White House speech in which he railed against trigger laws like the one in Ohio.
“Imagine you’re that little girl,” the president said. “I’m serious, just imagine being that little girl. Ten years old!”
President Biden cited the little girl report as he raged against trigger laws. Yuri Gripas/Basin via CNP/SplashNews.com
When pressed later Friday about whether the White House had verified key details of the case — including the victim’s identity — press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre referred reporters to the Justice Department.
“I have nothing more to share regarding the identity of this young woman or the question you just asked me,” Jean-Pierre said. “The president is talking to this young woman just to show how extreme the decision was for — the Dobbs decision and how extreme it is now for the American public, for — American families, when there is no exception at all.”
It’s unclear why the press secretary referred to the Justice Department, since rape would be a matter for local law enforcement unless the girl was brought across state lines by her attacker.
On Monday, Yost said Ohio’s trigger law has an exception that would allow the girl — “if she exists and if this horrible thing really happened to her” — to get an abortion in the state, undermining the point of the Star article.
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