Prosecutors say the case may be the first Texas prosecution of its kind under the state’s abortion statute.

CONROE, Texas — A Montgomery County grand jury has indicted Jon Rueben Gabriel Demeter on first-degree felony charges after prosecutors said he secretly gave abortion medication to a pregnant woman without her consent.

The indictment moves the case from an initial assault arrest into a broader test of how Texas authorities may apply abortion law when prosecutors allege a pregnancy was ended by force or deception. Demeter, 25, is charged with performance of an abortion and injury to a child. Authorities say the unborn child, named Presley Mae by her mother, was delivered stillborn after the woman sought medical help in The Woodlands.

Deputies first became involved Feb. 21, when they were called to a hospital about a miscarriage under suspicious circumstances. The woman told investigators she believed the father of her baby had given her a drug without her knowledge to end the pregnancy. Two days later, Major Crimes detectives arrested Demeter, who was first booked on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge. At that stage, the case centered on whether investigators could connect the woman’s medical emergency to medication prosecutors say Demeter obtained online. Sheriff Wesley Doolittle later said investigators found that Demeter had abortion medication shipped to his home. “He covertly crushed that medication and mixed it in a water bottle with a liquid I.V. packet,” Doolittle said at a May 20 news conference. He said investigators believe the act was done with the intent to cause the death of the unborn child.

The indictment returned in May replaced the original assault case with two first-degree felony counts. Prosecutors allege Demeter administered a substance, drug, medicine or other means to the pregnant woman in February without her knowledge or consent. They say the act caused the death of the unborn child and serious bodily injury. Officials said the pregnancy was about 14 weeks along. Doolittle said Presley Mae was stillborn at the hospital and weighed about 55 grams. The woman had told investigators she planned to carry the pregnancy to term and had refused Demeter’s efforts to persuade her to get an abortion, according to officials. Investigators said Demeter had offered to pay for her to travel out of state for the procedure. A search warrant affidavit cited by local reporting said the woman described the drink as bitter and fizzy, and that she began cramping and bleeding within hours.

District Attorney Mike Holley said the case may be the first time Texas prosecutors have used the state’s abortion statute in this kind of alleged nonconsensual conduct. Holley said Demeter had no medical license and no connection to the medical profession. “This may be the first use of the statute under these circumstances in the state of Texas,” Holley said. Prosecutors and sheriff’s officials stressed that the case is not about a consensual abortion. They said the charges are based on alleged deception, the alleged administration of medication without consent and the harm that followed. Chief Prosecutor Laura Hill said officials must evaluate the evidence and apply the law as written. The case was filed in the 221st District Court, with Judge Lisa Michalk presiding. Hill is leading the prosecution, and Detective Brandon Bartoskewitz served as lead investigator.

Each first-degree felony charge carries a possible sentence of five years to life in prison if Demeter is convicted. Demeter had been held without bond after his February arrest, but his bond was later set at $150,000 on each charge, for a total of $300,000. The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said he posted bond and was released May 28. Demeter’s attorney, Houston lawyer Aaron Holt, declined to comment to local media after the indictment. The investigation also drew attention to the online source of the medication. Holley said investigators were working with the Texas Attorney General’s Office on matters related to the website where officials say Demeter acknowledged buying pills. According to a warrant account reported locally, Demeter admitted ordering abortion medication online and giving the woman the drink, but denied putting the pills in it and said he had given the pills away.

The case began in a hospital room, but officials framed it at the news conference as both a criminal case and a moment of legal significance for Montgomery County. Doolittle spoke in personal terms about the stillbirth, saying Presley Mae had “10 fingers and 10 toes” and was developed at about 14 weeks. He said the Sheriff’s Office would continue to pursue leads in the case. The mother’s name has not been released publicly, and officials have not described all medical evidence reviewed by investigators. They have said the Montgomery County Medical Examiner’s Office assisted in the inquiry. The DA’s office said the grand jury reviewed evidence from the sheriff’s investigation before returning the felony indictments. Prosecutors also said the charges were rooted in Texas law and the facts they believe they can prove in court.

The indictment leaves several questions for the next phase of the case. Prosecutors will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Demeter administered the medication, that the woman did not consent, and that the medication caused the stillbirth and serious bodily injury. Defense filings and future hearings may address the search warrant, statements to investigators, medical evidence and how the abortion statute applies. No trial date was announced in the public reports reviewed. Demeter remains charged in Montgomery County as the case proceeds in district court after his release on bond.

Author note: Last updated June 19, 2026.