The Montgomery County case centers on prosecutors’ claim that medication was given without the pregnant woman’s consent.
CONROE, Texas — Prosecutors in Montgomery County say an indictment against Jon Rueben Gabriel Demeter may mark a first-of-its-kind Texas use of an abortion statute in an alleged nonconsensual drugging case.
The legal focus is narrow but significant. Demeter, 25, is not accused of assisting a consensual procedure. He is accused of secretly administering abortion-inducing medication to a pregnant woman who, investigators said, intended to carry the pregnancy to term. A grand jury indicted him on performance of an abortion and injury to a child, both first-degree felonies. Prosecutors say the alleged act caused the death of the unborn child, Presley Mae.
District Attorney Mike Holley described the case as unusual because of how the abortion charge is being used. He said the statute had not previously been applied in Texas under these alleged circumstances, at least to his knowledge. Holley said Demeter had no medical license and no professional role that would place him within the narrow exceptions Texas law allows for abortions performed for medical reasons. “This may be the first use of the statute under these circumstances in the state of Texas,” Holley said at a May 20 news conference. Prosecutors emphasized that the core allegation is not only that abortion medication was involved, but that it was allegedly given against the woman’s will. That framing is central to how the state has presented the case to the public and to the grand jury.
The indictment followed a months-long investigation that started with a Feb. 21 hospital call in The Woodlands. Deputies responded after a woman experienced what officials described as a miscarriage under suspicious circumstances. She told investigators she believed Demeter, identified by authorities as the father of the baby, had given her medication without her knowledge or consent. Sheriff Wesley Doolittle said investigators later determined that Demeter had obtained abortion medication through the internet and had it delivered to his home. Doolittle said Demeter crushed the medication and mixed it into a water bottle with a liquid I.V. packet. He said investigators believe the mixture was made with the specific intent to cause the death of the child.
The factual record described by officials includes several details prosecutors may use to show motive, opportunity and intent. The woman told investigators she wanted to keep the pregnancy. Authorities said Demeter had tried several times to convince her to have an abortion and had offered to pay for travel so she could obtain one out of state. A search warrant account reported by local media said the woman drank a beverage that tasted bitter and fizzy, then went to the hospital within hours because she was cramping and bleeding. The pregnancy was estimated at about 14 weeks. Doolittle said Presley Mae was delivered stillborn and weighed about 55 grams. Officials have not released the mother’s name, the full medical record or every piece of evidence reviewed by the grand jury.
The original charge was different. Demeter was first arrested Feb. 23 on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury. That charge reflected the early stage of the investigation. After detectives gathered evidence and prosecutors presented the case to a grand jury, the indictment shifted the case to two charges that more directly track the alleged conduct and outcome. The case is pending in the 221st District Court before Judge Lisa Michalk. Chief Prosecutor Laura Hill is leading the prosecution. Detective Brandon Bartoskewitz with the Sheriff’s Office served as the lead investigator. Hill said the allegations describe conduct that is both “deeply troubling and profoundly harmful,” and said prosecutors have a duty to review evidence and apply the law as written.
The defense has not publicly answered the allegations in detail. Local reports said Demeter’s attorney, Aaron Holt, declined to comment after the indictment. A search warrant account reported by a Houston television station said Demeter admitted ordering abortion medication online and giving the woman the drink, but denied putting abortion pills in the bottle. The account said he told investigators he had given the pills away. That reported denial may place evidence about the bottle, the medication, the timing and the medical cause of the stillbirth at the center of the case. Prosecutors will need to connect the alleged act to the injury and death. They also will need to prove the woman did not consent and that Demeter had the required criminal intent.
The case also raises questions about the internet source of the medication. Holley said investigators were continuing to work with the Texas Attorney General’s Office in connection with the website where officials say Demeter admitted buying the pills. Public reports have identified the drug as mifepristone, described by authorities as an abortion-inducing medication. Officials said abortion-inducing drugs were found at a residence where a search warrant was served. They have not publicly said whether any person connected to the website faces investigation or charges. That inquiry sits beside, but separate from, the prosecution of Demeter. The indictment itself focuses on what the state says Demeter did to the woman and the unborn child in February.
Demeter’s custody status changed after the indictment. He had been held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail after his February arrest. His bond was later set at $150,000 per charge, for a total of $300,000. The District Attorney’s Office said he posted bond and was released May 28. A first-degree felony in Texas carries a punishment range of five years to life in prison. The case is expected to move through pretrial hearings, where lawyers may address search records, witness statements, medical evidence, expert testimony and the scope of the abortion statute. No public report reviewed listed a trial date. Demeter remains charged and is presumed innocent unless convicted.
Author note: Last updated June 19, 2026.