Man Accused of Giving Ex-Girlfriend Abortion Pills Disguised As Vitamins, Triggering Miscarriage

According to the Watertown Police Department, on Tuesday, Robert Kawada, 43, was charged with poisoning, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a pregnant person and assault and battery on a household or family member after he allegedly gave his ex-girlfriend abortion pills to end her pregnancy.

"The preliminary investigation suggests that Kawada and the victim were in a dating relationship and that the victim became pregnant," authorities said in the press release. "Kawada is alleged to have secretly given the victim medication under the guise that he was giving her iron pills and vitamins. That medication was actually intended to end the pregnancy. After the victim had been given the pills, one of which is believed to be Misoprostol, the victim suffered a miscarriage."

Misoprostol and mifepristone are the two medications used to describe the abortion pill, also known as a medication abortion, according to Planned Parenthood. The prescriptions are usually taken together, however, misoprostol can be used alone.

In a probable cause statement from the Watertown Department, obtained by local Boston NBC affiliate WBTS, the woman told authorities that she met Kawada on a dating app, before they went on a few dates, and had consensual unprotected sex.

Per the document, Kawada ended his relationship with the woman -- whose identity has not been disclosed -- in March, before she later learned she was pregnant with his child. After the woman revealed the news to Kawada, they met multiple times over the next six weeks.

According to the probable cause statement, the woman said that during her meetings with Kawada, he provided her with pills he claimed were iron supplements or vitamins, which investigators later discovered were misoprostol. Per police, Kawada also gave the woman homemade raspberry leaf cookies.

Raspberry leaf tea has been thought to induce and shorten labor. However, as authorities explained in the document, it is "considered potentially dangerous in the first trimester as it could cause a miscarriage."

Kawada also allegedly assured the woman by sharing that his father was an OB-GYN and he had experience through his ex-wife's pregnancy.

According to the document, at one of the final meetings, Kawada accused the woman of lying about taking the iron pills, and claimed she set him up with the pregnancy. Police said that during the pair's last meeting, Kawada told the woman the pregnancy resulted in his mother's recent death as she had wanted them to get an abortion. Investigators wrote that Kawada also wanted to terminate the pregnancy, while the woman wanted to keep the baby and indicated she would raise it on her own.

The day of her miscarriage, the woman allegedly received a phone call from a person claiming to be a nurse, recommending that she take iron pills. Police wrote in the document that Kawada told the woman he had the medicine she needed, before the fake nurse called back again and told the woman to take two more of the pills.

Per the probable cause statement, that evening, the woman started experiencing severe symptoms of cramping and bloody discharge, and called the apparent nurse who had spoken to her earlier that day, before she learned the person was not a real nurse, as they had claimed.

According to authorities, the woman then reached out to her family, who called police the next day on May 2. She allegedly gave authorities one of the pills she had saved, and gave them Kawada's information.

As reported by WBTS, the document said that doctors at the hospital told the woman she had suffered a miscarriage. According to authorities, Kawada told police that he gave his girlfriend "vitamin C and iron pills that I ordered off Amazon."

However, investigators said Kawada's phone revealed he had previously called a pharmacy that sells misoprostol following the first ultrasound appointment. Per the document, Kawada's phone records also showed he had spoken to the fake nurse, and he had searched phrases including, "misoprostol dissolved," "9 week aborted fetus pics" and "no reaction to misoprostol."

Kawada was arrested last Friday, before being charged while appearing in Watertown District Court on Tuesday. He pleaded not guilty. Kawada's bail was set at $100,000.

Kawada's lawyer, Dmitry Lev, told WBTS, "We look forward to a full and complete investigation and a fair trial in front of our jury."