There are disturbing claims that a federal employee forced his pregnant girlfriend to have an abortion against her will.
In Tarrant County, Justin Banta, 38, is charged with attempted capital murder after allegedly adding “Plan C,” or abortion-inducing pills, to his girlfriend’s drink towards the end of last year.
Officials claim that Banta met his six-week pregnant girlfriend to talk about the pregnancy on October 16, 2024, at a Benbrook coffee shop. Banta had “encouraged her, and offered to help her get an abortion,” but the woman “intended on keeping the baby,” according to an arrest affidavit.
According to the affidavit, a sonogram that same day showed the baby to be healthy, but that quickly changed.
Hours later, the affidavit claims that Banta gave her a “drink he purchased prior to her arrival,” which she consumed at the coffee shop.
The following day, she “began to experience pains, fatigue and continuous heavy bleeding,” according to the affidavit, and she miscarried at home in Parker County.
She “believed Banta placed the abortion medications in her consumables he provided,” she wrote in her police report.
Investigators claim that during an interview at the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, Banta acknowledged using his cell phone to purchase “Plan C” pills online and consented to having his phone searched. However, investigators claim to have found that the phone had been reset when they attempted to access it and download its contents.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s IT Department employs Banta, according to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office, who “accessed the phone remotely and performed a’reset’, thereby deleting crucial evidence related to the case.”
According to Jorge Vela, a former federal and state prosecutor who currently practices criminal defense, “the fact that Mr. Banta worked in the Department of Justice as an IT Specialist is extremely relevant.” Vela says it might be difficult to prove, but he has no connection to the Banta case.
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“Did Mr. Banta actually put some kind of ‘Plan C’ in the alleged victim’s drink. I think that’s going to be a very difficult thing to prove without clear surveillance footage of that coffee shop where they met or some other type of incriminating declarations by Mr. Banta and based off the probable cause affidavit, it seems like those are lacking,” Vela stated.
In a statement, Banta’s attorney Michael Heiskell stated, “The charges against Justin will result in a vigorous defense. He maintains his innocence as he did so when he fully cooperated and met with the investigating officers. This cooperation included him voluntarily consenting to his phone being seized by said investigators. I remind the public that these are only allegations and that Justin looks forward to clearing his good name in court. In that vein we ask that his privacy and the due process our law provides him and the rest of us be honored and protected.”
Following months of investigation, sheriff’s investigators were able to obtain a felony arrest warrant for Banta, who was booked into the Parker County Jail on Friday on charges of capital murder filed in Tarrant County by the Texas Rangers and tampering with physical evidence by the PCSO.
On the day of his arrest, Banta bonded out of jail.
