A 39-year-old attorney in Texas will spend less than six months behind bars after admitting to sneaking abortion-inducing drugs into his soon-to-be ex-wife’s beverages for weeks after learning about her pregnancy. Harris County District Court Judge Andrea Ball on Wednesday ordered Mason Herring to serve a sentence of 180 days in jail and an additional 10 years of probation, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Mason Herring had previously pleaded guilty to one count of assault of a pregnant person and one count of injury to a child under age 15. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office dismissed one count of assault — forcing an individual to have an abortion.
The victim, Catherine Herring, appeared at her husband’s sentencing hearing where she addressed the court and expressed her disappointment with the sentence.
“I do not believe that 180 days is justice for attempting to kill your child seven separate times,” she told the court, Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported. “For two years, my husband has overly denied this assault, and I’m grateful today that he has finally admitted to his guilt.”