Man Who Drugged Wife’s Drinks to Cause Abortion Gets 180 Days in Jail

A Texas man who drugged his wife’s drinks in an unsuccessful attempt to induce an abortion was sentenced on Wednesday to 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation, the Harris County district clerk’s office said.

The man, Mason Herring, 39, of Houston, pleaded guilty to injury of a child and assault of a pregnant person as part of a plea agreement, according to the clerk’s office. Mr. Herring had initially faced the more serious charge of assault to induce abortion.

Judge Andrea Ball of Harris County District Court ordered Mr. Herring to begin serving his sentence on March 1, according to court records.

Mr. Herring’s wife, Catherine Herring, told the court on Wednesday that 180 days in jail would not be enough, and that their 1-year-old daughter was born 10 weeks premature, with developmental delays, and attends therapy eight times a week, The Associated Press reported.

On at least five occasions starting in March 2022, Ms. Herring said, her husband gave her drinks with an “unknown substance” in them, according to the criminal complaint. The following month, Ms. Herring found packaging in the trash that was labeled “Cyrux,” the brand of an abortion pill sold in Mexico, according to the complaint. The main ingredient in Cyrux is misoprostol, which is used for abortions in some countries.

Ms. Herring and a lawyer for Mr. Herring did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

In March 2022, the couple spent five days vacationing with their two children in West Texas, and during the trip, Ms. Herring said, her husband told her that she needed to drink more water to stay hydrated, the complaint said.

On March 17 after the couple had returned home from their trip, Ms. Herring said, her husband brought her breakfast and a cup of water, according to the complaint. Mr. Herring again told his wife that she needed to drink more water, and that he would not leave until she finished drinking all the water in the cup, the complaint said.

While drinking the water, Ms. Herring stopped to note that it appeared to look cloudy, according to the complaint. Mr. Herring told her that “perhaps the cup was dirty or the pipes were dirty,” the document said.

Roughly 30 minutes after Ms. Herring drank the water, she became ill, suffering from painful cramps, bouts of diarrhea and bleeding, according to the complaint. Later that day, Ms. Herring went to the emergency room, where she continued bleeding, the complaint said.

Back at home the next day, Ms. Herring said that her husband brought her another drink in an orange sports bottle, but she did not drink it because she noticed a substance she did not recognize in the bottle, according to the complaint. Over the course of the next six weeks, Ms. Herring said, there were several more episodes in which her husband brought her a drink with an unknown substance inside, according to the complaint.

A few weeks later, on April 24, Ms. Herring said, she noticed that her husband had taken out the trash, which was “out of character for” him because “he does not do chores around the house,” the complaint said. When Ms. Herring went out to see what was in the trash, she found Cyrux packaging, according to the complaint.

Ms. Herring filed for divorce in May 2022, according to Harris County court records.