[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
If you’re trying to avoid looking like a jerk, maybe don’t try to poison your wife into having a miscarriage? Just a crazy thought…
It seems unbelievable, but saving face was apparently the genuine motive for the crime Texas attorney Mason Herring is accused of. He’s the first and only person to ever be charged with assault of a pregnant person and forced induction to have an abortion. It’s a new charge to come after the banning of abortion in Texas. But we’re sure even the most ardent Roe v. Wade supporters would agree this is criminal behavior.
Prosecutors told local outlet KTRK last week that Herring, the founder and managing partner of a law firm handling mostly oil and gas workplace injuries, is accused of slipping an abortion-inducing drug into his wife’s drinks on more than one occasion. WTF, right?!
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Harris County Assistant District Attorney Anthony Osso explained the theory of the case — Mason and his wife had separated in early 2022, but then in March he found out she was pregnant. Osso explained:
“My understanding is that it wasn’t well-received by (Herring). That came out through marriage counseling, as well as through text messages later on.”
This was the couple’s third child. What was the problem?
In a probable cause affidavit written by a Houston Police Department investigator named A. Otero, it was revealed that Catherine Herring had confronted her husband about an affair, leading to the separation. She was willing to work on the marriage anyway. But in a marriage counseling session, she told him the pregnancy news, and he FLIPPED. Otero wrote, per court records obtained by Oxygen:
“Complainant stated that defendant had a negative reaction, and after that evening, he sent her text messages expressing that he was not happy about the pregnancy and did not know what to do.”
It’s believed Mason was planning to leave his wife for this other woman, but Catherine being pregnant would “ruin his plans” and “make him look like a jerk.” Wow.
How did he get caught? That’s a wild story on its own…
After reacting so badly to the pregnancy at first, Mason apparently became a doting dad-to-be all of a sudden. They went from living separately to going on a Spring Break trip with their kids, just four days after he learned about the pregnancy. During the vacation he “began talking about her hydration” and kept pushing her to drink more water. He started making sure she always finished her drinks.
Catherine says she started getting suspicious when he came over to her new place just to make her a drink — after which she got violently ill. When diarrhea gave way to bloody discharge, she went to the hospital. Thankfully she didn’t lose the baby. But she started paying close attention, and said she noticed either cloudiness to the liquid in glasses or that the orange juice he would give her had the seal broken already.
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This momma wasn’t about to take this lying down. Unbeknownst to her husband, she installed cameras around her new place to verify her suspicions. One day in April she saw him on the camera cleaning up and taking out the trash — which was extra sus because she said Mason “does not do chores around the house.” She checked the trash after he left and found the packaging for a Mexican version of the prescription drug Cytotec, which contains Misoprostol. Her OBGYN explained that the drug caused “strong uterine contractions, causing miscarriage” — and had the side effects of diarrhea and bleeding.
She went to the cops with her complaint and provided urine samples to the police which proved she had ingested the drug. Investigators reviewed her security camera footage and sure enough, caught Mason on camera, per the affidavit, “preparing a drink in the kitchen, taking a Ziploc bag out, and emptying contents into the drink.” He was arrested in May.
Catherine eventually gave birth to a baby prematurely, but thankfully the child is said to be in good health. After that Mason was charged with the new crime. Osso explained:
“It’s manipulative. It’s pre-meditated. What we are alleging Mr. Herring did, which we believe the evidence supports, is a pretty heinous act. To do that to someone who trusts you, it’s taking advantage of that trust.”
The 38-year-old is now out on bail and is expected to be back in court on December 2. His attorney released the following statement to the press:
“We are aware that the Grand Jury has returned these charges. That said, we very much look forward to our day in court and are thoroughly convinced that we will prevail in a Court of law when our time comes to defend these allegations. Until that day comes, I don’t intend to comment any publicly any further.”
Something tells us they would have figured out a charge for this kind of intentional poisoning with or without overturning Roe. In any case, everyone should be able to agree on this particular case — what a creep!
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
[Image via Harris County Sheriffs Office.]
