Category Archives: Indiana

Man gets life sentence for raping girl, nine, forced to leave Ohio for abortion

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Gerson Fuentes found guilty in case that dominated headlines when girl had to travel to Indiana for procedure banned in Ohio

The man found guilty of raping and impregnating a nine-year-old Ohio girl who later traveled to Indiana for abortion has been sentenced to life in prison.

On Wednesday afternoon, 28-year-old Gerson Fuentes appeared at the Franklin county court of common pleas in Columbus, Ohio, where he entered a plea agreement which will allow him to be eligible to seek probation after 25 years. If granted parole, Fuentes would also have to register as a tier 3 sex offender and will have a lifetime of in-person verification every 90 days.

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Judge blocks implementation of Indiana ban on treatment for trans minors

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Federal judge issues order stopping ban on puberty blockers and hormones due to take effect on 1 July.

A US federal judge on Friday issued an order stopping an Indiana ban on puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors from taking effect as scheduled 1 July.

Indiana’s American Civil Liberties Union sought the temporary injunction in its legal challenge of the Republican-backed law, which was enacted this spring amid a national push by politically conservative legislatures to curb LGBTQ+ rights.

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Deadly storms and tornadoes kill at least 29 people in several US states

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Monster storm system struck at least eight states over the weekend, prompting at least 50 preliminary reports of tornadoes

As many as 29 people have been killed after a slew of tornadoes tore through parts of the southern and midwestern US in recent days, leaving immense destruction and debris in its path, according to officials.

A monster storm system struck at least eight states over the weekend, prompting at least 50 preliminary reports of tornadoes. The states affected include Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Delaware and Alabama.

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Levels of carcinogenic chemical near Ohio derailment site far above safe limit

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EPA scientists assessed a dioxin cancer risks threshold in 2010, but a federal cleanup is only triggered at far higher levels

Newly released data shows soil in the Ohio town of East Palestine – scene of a recent catastrophic train crash and chemical spill – contains dioxin levels hundreds of times greater than the exposure threshold above which Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientists in 2010 found poses cancer risks.

The EPA at the time proposed lowering the cleanup threshold to reflect the science around the highly toxic chemical, but the Obama administration killed the rules, and the higher federal action threshold remains in place.

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Near-total abortion ban with narrow exceptions takes effect in Indiana

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Law effectively wipes out abortion access for 1.5m people in the state, which was a safe haven for those seeking the procedure

A sweeping abortion ban went into effect in Indiana on Thursday, containing only extremely narrow exceptions for medical emergencies, rape and incest and making it the latest state to largely outlaw the procedure in the US.

The ban is being challenged in court by the ACLU and several abortion care providers, with hearings set to start on 19 September.

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Dutch defence minister concerned at US gun violence after soldier’s death

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‘We don’t expect this,’ says Kajsa Ollongren of shooting that left two other Dutch commandos wounded

The Dutch defence minister has expressed concern at gun violence in the US after a shooting in Indianapolis over the weekend that left one Dutch soldier dead and two wounded.

“We do many trainings of our servicemen in the United States, and we really don’t expect this to happen. So it’s very, very concerning for us,” Kajsa Ollongren said at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Prague on Tuesday.

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Dutch soldier dies of injuries after shooting in Indianapolis

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Commando Simmie Poetsema was one of three soldiers wounded in incident outside hotel in US city

One of three Dutch soldiers wounded in a shooting outside a hotel in Indianapolis over the weekend has died, according to US and Dutch authorities.

The commando died of his injuries on Sunday night surrounded by family and colleagues, the Dutch defence ministry said on Monday.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

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Indiana congresswoman Jackie Walorski dies in car crash

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Republican, 58, elected to Congress in 2012, killed along with two members of her staff in head-on collision in Indiana, police say

The US congresswoman Jackie Walorski and two members of her staff were killed in a head-on vehicle collision in Indiana on Wednesday, her office and local police said.

Walorski, a Republican who represented Indiana’s second congressional district in the US House of Representatives, was traveling in a vehicle with the two others when another car veered into their lane, the Elkhart county sheriff’s office said.

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Indiana investigates abortion doctor who treated 10-year-old rape victim

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State attorney general notifies Dr Caitlin Bernard and claims ‘she used a 10-year-old girl to push her political ideology’

The Indiana state attorney general has launched an investigation into the doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim.

According to Kathleen DeLaney, a lawyer acting for the doctor, Caitlin Bernard, a notice from the Indiana attorney general, Todd Rokita, regarding his investigation arrived on Tuesday.

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Indiana mall shooting: officials identify gunman who killed three people

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Gunman was a 20-year-old man who shot five people at the Greenwood Park mall before a shopper shot and killed him

Authorities on Monday identified the gunman who shot five people at a suburban Indianapolis shopping mall on Sunday, killing three of them, before a shopper shot and killed him.

He was a 20-year-old local man, Jonathan Sapirman, of Greenwood, who began firing after leaving a bathroom at the Greenwood Park Mall shortly before it closed Sunday evening, the Greenwood police chief, James Ison, said at a news conference.

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Indiana shooting: gunman kills three in Greenwood Park mall attack

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Man entered centre with rifle and began firing in food court before being killed by armed bystander

Three people were fatally shot and two were injured at an Indiana mall after a man with a rifle opened fire in a food court and an armed civilian shot and killed him, police said.

The man entered the Greenwood Park Mall with a rifle and several magazines of ammunition and began firing in the food court on Sunday evening, said the Greenwood police department chief, Jim Ison.

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Man charged with rape of 10-year-old who had abortion after rightwing media called story ‘not true’

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Police say Ohio man confessed to raping a girl who went to Indiana for abortion, following the right’s attempts to discredit story

In a case that has become a flashpoint in the abortion debate after being highlighted by Joe Biden and baselessly disputed by some rightwing media and politicians, an Ohio man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl who later traveled to neighboring Indiana for an abortion.

Gerson Fuentes, 27, who was arrested on Tuesday, appeared in Franklin county, Ohio, municipal court for an arraignment on Wednesday. A police investigator testified at the hearing that Fuentes had confessed to raping the girl at least twice.

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10-year-old rape victim forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for abortion

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Case places prominent anti-abortion figures in position of balancing rights of women and girls while defending restrictions

The case of a 10-year-old child rape victim in Ohio who was six weeks pregnant, ineligible for an abortion in her own state, and forced to travel to Indiana for the procedure has spotlighted the shocking impact of the US supreme court ruling on abortion.

The story of the girl came to light three days after the court overturned a nationwide right to terminate pregnancy, and Ohio’s six-week “trigger ban” came into effect.

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Man charged with wife’s murder wins Republican town primary from jail

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Andrew Wilhoite, 40, of Lebanon, Indiana, accused of killing Nikki Wilhoite with flower pot and dumping her body in nearby creek

A central Indiana man accused of murdering his wife and dumping her body in a creek in March has won a Republican primary election for township board in the state – from jail.

Andrew Wilhoite, 40, of Lebanon received 60 of the 276 total votes on Tuesday for Republicans for three positions on the Clinton township board, Boone county election results showed.

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Education or indoctrination: inside the bitter fight dividing America’s schools – video

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Carmel, Indiana, is an affluent suburb just north of Indianapolis known for low crime rates and some of the country’s best public schools. But early last year, the school board brought in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI, which seek to combat structural racism in the education system. Since then,  a battle has erupted between those who welcome the changes, and others who see it as leftwing indoctrination

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Group whose anti-abortion ad Amy Barrett signed accused of promoting harassment of doctors

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In one case, a doctor whose name was published by Indiana group was warned by FBI of kidnapping threat against her daughter

An Indiana group whose anti-abortion campaign was endorsed in a signed advertisement by Amy Coney Barrett before she became a supreme court justice, keeps a published list of abortion providers and their place of work on its website, in what some experts say is an invitation to harass and intimidate the doctors and their staff.

In one case, court records show, a doctor whose name was published by the group, which is called Right to Life Michiana, was warned by the FBI of a kidnapping threat that had been made online against her daughter.

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Republicans in six states rush to mimic Texas anti-abortion law

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North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, Indiana, Arkansas and Florida eye similar measures to new Texas ban after six weeks

Republican leaders in as many as six US states are rushing to follow the lead of Texas in adopting an extreme abortion ban that critics, including Joe Biden, have slammed as unconstitutional and built to encourage vigilantism among the public.

Abortion rights advocates are bracing to resist a flurry of initiatives from Florida to North Dakota in the wake of the new Texas law, the most extreme in the US, which the conservative majority on the supreme court refused to block.

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Indianapolis shooting: gunman bought two rifles after police seized his shotgun

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Brandon Hole bought assault weapons he used in attack months after his shotgun was confiscated over mental health concerns

A gunman who murdered eight people at a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis legally purchased the two semi-automatic rifles he used in the attack, months after a shotgun he owned was confiscated by police over concerns around his mental health.

Brandon Hole, 19, who killed himself at the conclusion of the massacre, bought the two assault weapons in July and September 2020, according to Indianapolis metropolitan police chief Randal Taylor, after the shotgun was taken from him in March following a call from his mother concerned at his mental state.

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Indianapolis shooting: eight killed at FedEx facility

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Multiple other people injured before suspected gunman killed himself, say police

At least eight people have been shot dead at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis and the suspected gunman has killed himself, police say.

Multiple other people were injured and went to local hospitals, a police spokesperson, Genae Cook, said at an early morning news conference on Friday.

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Indianapolis shooting: eight killed at FedEx facility, police say – video

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At least eight people have been shot and killed at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. The suspected gunman killed himself, police have said. Multiple other people were injured and taken to local hospitals, a police spokesperson, Genae Cook, said at an early morning news conference on Friday

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