PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — Warning: This story describes details about an alleged sexual assault.
A married nurse practitioner is accused of forcing abortion pills inside his girlfriend, who was also one of his patients, after she got pregnant.
David Benjamin Coots is charged with assault in the second degree, rape in the third degree, witness tampering and five violations of court orders. Coots practiced at a MultiCare Tacoma location in Gig Harbor, although his profile no longer appears on the company's website.
According to court documents, the victim was a patient of Coots who had entered into an intimate relationship with him in January 2023. The woman told police that when she learned Coots was married, he told her he was in the process of separating from his wife.
The woman told police that she had learned she was pregnant in January 2024, and that Coots was "overly supportive" when she informed him. However, she says that about a week later when they were having sex, he "put his fingers so far inside of her that it felt 'uncomfortable,' the woman told police.
She later found a pill on toilet paper she used after going to the bathroom, and subsequently found a second pill and "some kind of foil" when she checked further inside herself.
Coots told her the pills were Misoprostol or Cytotec, "which are used to cause miscarriages." She said he had told her he had prescribed the pills to himself. The woman told police that Coots apologized and asked her how much money she wanted to not report the information to police.
The woman also was contacted by Coots' wife, Melissa, who texted and later showed up at her house to ask how much money she wanted to not go to the police, court documents say. The woman says she and her daughter moved into a nearby hotel in fear knowing that Coots' wife knew where she lived and had been at her house.
After the woman got a restraining order, Coots continued to try and contact her and even showed up at her brother's house with flowers and gifts at one point, per court documents. He also wrote the woman a letter that was typed single-spaced and over seven pages to "express his love and his remorse."
Melissa Coots is also charged with witness tampering in the case. MultiCare released a statement to KING 5 in response to the charges, which read:
"MultiCare has no higher priority than the safety of our patients. We take these allegations of inappropriate behavior by our provider very seriously and are conducting a thorough investigation. The provider in question no longer works for Multicare."
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. Additional resources are available on the Washington State Department of Health's website.
