MA Man Indicted After Tricking Girlfriend Into Taking Abortion Drug

WATERTOWN, MA — A Massachusetts man has been indicted on charges that he tricked his girlfriend into taking pills that resulted in the termination of her pregnancy, the Middlesex District Attorney said.

A Middlesex Grand Jury has indicted Robert Kawada, 43, of Brookline, on charges of poisoning, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a pregnant person and assault and battery on a household or family member.

"The investigation suggests that the defendant and the victim were in a dating relationship and that the victim became pregnant," officials said. "Upon learning of the pregnancy, the defendant allegedly ordered the medications, Misoprostol and Mifepristone, online. In placing that order he is alleged to have used the identity of another female who was known to him."

Officials said Kawada encouraged his girlfriend to take iron pills, going so far as to arranging for a person to misrepresent themselves as a nurse from the victim's medical facility and encourage her to take a supplement.

The victim had been reluctant to this point, but eventually trusted the defendant based on that phone call and, officials said, Kawada's father's positon as an Obstetrics and Gynecology doctor.

Kawada showed up at the victim’s home after the call where they discussed it.

"The defendant said he had those type of pills with him and gave them to the victim who took them," officials said. "That medication was actually intended to end the pregnancy. After the victim had been given the pills, she suffered a miscarriage. The victim was later able to provide a description of the pill, which she had ingested, that was consistent with one of the drugs that induced the miscarriage."

Kawada was arrested by Watertown police on these charges in May. He will be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court at a later date.

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