A cheating husband has been jailed for just 180 days after adding abortifacient drugs to his wife’s drinks when she was seven months pregnant, meaning the child was born prematurely with learning difficulties.
Mason Herring, 39, a Houston-based attorney, was sentenced Wednesday to 180 days in the Harris County Jail, beginning March 1, plus 10 years of probation as part of a plea deal. .
Herring made numerous attempts to drug his wife, Catherine Herring, leaving her ill and leaving their third baby born 10 weeks premature. The boy now suffers from developmental delays and receives therapy eight times a week.
The lawyer’s repeated attempts to drug his wife in 2022 came after he embarked on an affair and told his wife he wanted to separate. She told the court he was afraid he would “look like a jerk” if she gave birth.
Catherine bravely appeared at her husband’s sentencing to criticize the judge for handing down such a lenient sentence.
“I don’t think 180 days is justice for trying to kill your son seven different times,” he told the court. “For two years, my husband has openly denied this assault and today I am grateful that he has finally admitted his guilt.”
A cheating husband has been jailed for just 180 days after adding abortifacient drugs to his wife’s drinks when she was seven months pregnant, meaning the child was born prematurely with learning difficulties. Mason (left) and Catherine Herring (right)
Mason Herring, 39, a Houston-based attorney, was sentenced Wednesday to 180 days in the Harris County Jail, beginning March 1, plus 10 years of probation as part of a plea deal. .
Catherine (pictured) bravely appeared at her husband’s sentencing to criticize the judge for handing down such a lenient sentence.
‘I think the result was good for my client. He has accepted responsibility for what he did,” his attorney, Dan Codgell, told ABC13.
Mason was scheduled to stand trial on three felonies in March. He was originally charged with forcing an induction to perform an abortion, but pleaded guilty to lesser charges of assault on a pregnant person and injury to a child under fifteen years of age.
His soon-to-be ex-wife told the court that because of her husband’s actions, she gave birth to their daughter 10 weeks early, causing the newborn to spend months eating through a feeding tube.
She also said Mason had stopped financially supporting her and her three children since the incident.
Mason was secretly drugging his wife to abort the pregnancy of their third child.
He was once filmed putting the abortion drug misoprostol into a glass of cranberry juice which he then encouraged his 11-year-old wife to drink.
“(Catherine Herring) stated that this was out of character for (Mason Herring) as he does not do housework,” the affidavit states.
‘(Catherine Herring) stated that when (Mason Herring) left the residence, she went to the trash can to see what was inside. (Catherine Herring) stated that she later found open blister packs labeled ‘Cyrux’, which she discovered was a Mexican pharmaceutical version of the American drug Cytotec and whose main ingredient is Misoprostol, a drug that (Catherine Herring) knows is used. cause abortion.’
Catherine first realized Mason might have been drugging her when he offered her a glass of cloudy water in March 2022 during her spring break and mentioned the importance of staying hydrated.
Within 30 minutes, Catherine says she became seriously ill with diarrhea and cramps and was unable to go to the bathroom before soiling herself.
Within hours he was bleeding profusely and went to the hospital where he provided a urine sample that was almost black in color, Houston police said in an affidavit.
The lawyer’s repeated attempts to drug his wife came after he began having an affair earlier this year and told his wife he wanted to separate.
When he discovered she was pregnant with their third child, he took steps to abort the baby, which he said would “ruin his plans and make him look like an idiot.”
Mason (pictured) was scheduled to stand trial on three felony charges in March.
He was originally charged with forcing an induction to perform an abortion, but admitted guilt to lesser charges of assault on a pregnant person and injury to a child under fifteen years of age.
“I don’t think 180 days is justice for trying to kill your son seven different times,” Catherine told the court.
Herring made numerous attempts to drug his wife, Catherine Herring, leaving her ill and leaving their third baby born 10 weeks premature.
The couple’s baby was eventually born safely, albeit prematurely, lawyers said.
Mason is an attorney and founder of the Herring Law Firm, which specializes in oil rig litigation in Houston. Catherine is an artist and founder of the online store Old Southern Charm.
Despite her strong reaction to the drug during her spring break, Catherine told police that Mason made repeated attempts to secretly administer it to her, including from orange juice cartons that she could see had been opened.
Catherine told police that after drinking the water that left her hospitalized, she did not consume any drinks prepared by Mason, but instead collected samples to build a case against him.
Six of those samples he kept were analyzed at an Oklahoma laboratory and at least two were shown to contain misoprostol.
One day in April, Catherine also called two friends to her house after suspecting she had been drugged. Both friends saw material floating in a drink her husband gave her, according to the affidavit.
After installing cameras in the family home, where Mason no longer lived, Catherine said she found empty packages of Cyrux, which she later discovered was a Mexican version of the American drug Cytotec containing misoprostol.
She finally recorded her husband preparing a cranberry juice drink in the kitchen and adding a substance from a Ziploc bag he pulled out of his pocket. The video was reviewed by Houston police.
When Catherine told Mason that she had gotten pregnant for the third time, he became frustrated and said it would “ruin his plans and make him look like a jerk.”
Catherine found an empty package of Cyrux, which she later discovered was a Mexican version of the American drug Cytotec containing misoprostol (pictured in tablet form).
Catherine is an artist and founder of the online store Old Southern Charm.
Herring was charged with assault of a pregnant person and forcible induction to perform an abortion, a charge that had never been used before in Harris County, district attorneys told KTRK at the time.
In April 2022, Catherine went to a police station in Houston with the intention of pressing charges against her husband Mason for “suspected poisoning.”
She told police that she had confronted her husband in February about lies about where he was and that she believed he was continuing an affair with a woman he had previously hired.
Shortly after that confrontation, Mason told her he wanted to break up, she said. However, the two began going to couples therapy, a Houston Police Department investigator wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
It was during a counseling session that Catherine claimed to have told Mason about her pregnancy, news to which he responded negatively.
After that, the couple spent spring break together with their two children in West Texas. It was during that period that Catherine said Mason began talking about the importance of drinking water and staying hydrated.
After Mason tricked Catherine into taking the drug, she began bleeding profusely and went to the hospital.
Catherine alleges that on March 17, Mason arrived at her home in Houston with breakfast and a glass of water.
She says that after taking a small sip from the glass she noticed the water was “cloudy” and mentioned it to Mason, who suggested it could be due to a dirty glass or the water pipes.
“It’s manipulative,” Anthony Osso, an assistant district attorney for the domestic violence division assigned to this case, said at the time.
‘It’s premeditated. What we allege Mr. Herring did, and we believe the evidence supports it, is a pretty heinous act. Doing that to someone who trusts you is taking advantage of that trust.’