OLYMPIA, WA – A Washington State nurse practitioner who has been accused of secretly administering abortion pills to his mistress during sex has been allowed to remove his electronic home-monitoring device so that he can start up his own business.
According to People Magazine, 43-year-old David Coots, of Gig Harbor, Washington, was arrested on March 11th after being charged with second-degree assault, third-degree rape, and tampering with a witness. Coots was a nurse practitioner at MultiCare Gig Harbor Medical Park until his license was suspended back in April of 2024 by the state Board of Nursing.
Charging documents state that the victim was a patient of Coots’, a married father of five who has also been accused of persistently pursuing a romantic relationship with the victim before beginning an affair with her in 2024.
In January of this year when the woman found out she was pregnant, she said Coots’ was “overly supportive” when she told him, but that on at least two occasions, the woman believes Coots tried to induce an abortion. Coots allegedly prescribed misoprostol pills to himself and slipped four of them into the woman’s body during sex.
Charging documents also state that Melissa Cooks, David’s wife, pleaded guilty in June 2024 to attempted witness tampering for offering to pay off the mistress with a $20,000 payment, telling her that if she told the police, it would ruin her life as well as David’s.
On February 5th, Cooks was allegedly “relentlessly” messaging the woman until approximately one minute before officers arrived and served him with a protection order. He also allegedly contacted the woman and left gifts and flowers outside her home; he was then arrested for violating his protection order.
Even with these serious charges, Judge Stanley Rumbaugh has allowed Coots to remove his electronic ankle monitor beginning on May 14th. Coots recently obtained an esthetician license by the Department of Licensing on April 11th. Coots’ new business allegedly will help people with “cystic acne, alopecia, rosacea, and hyperpigmentation”.
The Department of Licensing said in a statement, “State law doesn’t require a criminal background check for cosmetology licenses, but the application asks a person to attest or self-report if they have been convicted of a crime and he checked no. Now that we know the serious nature of the charges against him, his esthetician license is under review.”
The victim that Coots allegedly gave abortion pills to told the judge that Coots’ ankle monitor has given her peace of mind. She said, “I don’t know how to explain how terrifying it is.” She said that if the monitor comes off, she and her daughter would leave the state. She added, “That’s how afraid I am of him coming to my house.”
If Coots’ ankle monitor gets removed, he is still not allowed to have contact with the victim. His next hearing is scheduled for June 6th.
