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A worker from the Justice Department has been charged with capital murder for allegedly administering an abortion drug to his pregnant girlfriend’s drink without her knowledge, causing her to miscarry, authorities stated.
Justin Banta, a 38-year-old IT employee, was arrested on Friday following an occurrence last October at a coffee shop in Tarrant County, Texas, as per the Parker County Sheriff’s Office.
“The victim reported that her boyfriend deliberately mixed ‘Plan C,’ a commonly recognized abortion drug, into her drink to force a miscarriage without her consent,” police explained.
In addition to a capital murder charge from the Texas Rangers, Banta was booked on one count of tampering with physical evidence. The Justice Department did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Justin Banta is an IT worker for the Department of Justice, the Parker County Sheriff’s Office said. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)
Police said they interviewed Banta and collected his cell phone as evidence. During the interview, Banta admitted to buying the abortion drugs on his phone and said he knew investigators wanted to talk to him about the woman’s miscarriage, according to KDFW.
“Sheriff’s investigators believe Banta, who works at the IT Department of the U.S. Department of Justice, later accessed the phone remotely and performed a ‘reset,’ thereby deleting crucial evidence related to the case,” the sheriff’s office said.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Banta was released from the Parker County Jail on Friday after posting a $500,000 bond for the capital murder charge and a $20,000 bond for the evidence-tampering charge, KDFW reported.
