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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas – A Montgomery County man is facing felony charges in what prosecutors say may be the first prosecution of its kind under Texas\u2019 abortion statute.<\/p>\n
Man accused of secretly giving abortion medication to pregnant woman <\/p>\n
FOX 26 first reported on the case back in February after investigators accused 25-year-old John Ruben Demeter of secretly giving abortion medication to a pregnant woman without her knowledge or consent.<\/p>\n
During a Wednesday press conference, Montgomery County District Attorney Mike Holley announced Demeter had been indicted on charges of illegal performance of an abortion and injury to a child.<\/p>\n
Officials say both charges are first-degree felonies punishable by five years to life in prison.<\/p>\n
“We believe this is the first time in the state of Texas it has been used to prosecute anyone in the state,” Holley said while discussing the abortion statute.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors stressed repeatedly that the case does not involve a consensual abortion.<\/p>\n
Instead, investigators allege Demeter secretly administered abortion medication to the woman, causing the death of her unborn child.<\/p>\n
Demeter remains presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n
Investigation details:<\/p>\n
According to investigators, the case began on February 21 after the woman sought medical attention and told authorities she believed she had been given abortion medication without her knowledge.<\/p>\n
Sheriff Wesley Doolittle said investigators later determined Demeter allegedly obtained abortion medication online and had it shipped to his home.<\/p>\n
Authorities say investigators believe the medication was crushed and mixed into a drink.<\/p>\n
Investigators say the unborn child, identified by officials as Presley May, was approximately 14 weeks along.<\/p>\n
Demeter was arrested on February 23 and has remained in the Montgomery County Jail since that time.<\/p>\n
Why the case is unusual:<\/p>\n
Holley acknowledged the prosecution raises unique legal questions because of how Texas\u2019 abortion statute is being applied.<\/p>\n
The district attorney said prosecutors debated several potential charges before ultimately deciding the abortion statute most directly addressed the allegations.<\/p>\n
Defense attorney Rick DeSoto, who is not connected to the case, told FOX 26 the issue of consent could become central moving forward.<\/p>\n
“In this case, it\u2019s basically an assault where a person is causing serious bodily injury or death to a fetus\u2026 without their consent, without them knowing about it,” DeSoto said.<\/p>\n
DeSoto also said legal and political divisions surrounding abortion laws could complicate jury selection and future appeals if there is a conviction.<\/p>\n
What’s next:<\/p>\n
Court records show the case is assigned to the 221st District Court.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say Demeter\u2019s next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Officials also say the investigation into how the abortion medication was allegedly obtained remains ongoing.<\/p>\n
The Source: Montgomery County District Attorney\u2019s Office press conference, Montgomery County Sheriff\u2019s Office, court records, interview with defense attorney Rick DeSoto<\/p>\n
Crime and Public Safety<\/a>News<\/a>Montgomery County<\/a>Top Stories<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas – A Montgomery County man is facing felony charges in what prosecutors say may be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1046,7054,223,27,29,28,2053,216,393],"class_list":["post-302453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-montgomery-county","tag-news","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-top-stories","tag-tx","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}