Doctor guilty of putting his ‘thick, gloopy’ semen into woman’s coffee

A GP has been found guilty of a sexual offence after depositing his semen into a woman’s coffee.

Nicholas Chapman, 55, filled up hundreds of ‘specimen’ samples and was accused of dropping them into the hot drinks of his victims.

One woman told a trial that after sipping a “salty” coffee, she used to pour others away but always noticed a “thick, gloopy” substance in the sink. Her suspicions were raised a year later when she discovered a collection of “specimen pots” belonging to Mr Chapman. She then took a sample of the next coffee the 55-year-old made for her to police and it tested positive for the defendant’s semen.

Mr Chapman, of Taunton, Somerset, was on Thursday (15 June) found guilty of one count of engaging in sexual activity without consent for making the victim “ingest his semen” on 13 September 2021.

A jury at Gloucester Crown Court found him not guilty of the second count of the same charge which was allegedly committed between 12 September 2020 and 12 September 2021. This time period was when the victim “thought” something was wrong with the coffee Mr Chapman was making for her, but no official testing on it had been carried out.

The doctor claimed in court that he had collected the samples at work due to a “secret” condition that saw him discharge semen every time he would defecate and that someone else must have put it in the coffee as a “prank”.

Giving evidence, the victim said she first realised something was wrong with the coffee Mr Chapman had made for her in September 2020, describing the taste as “salty” and containing a “thick, gloopy, substance”.

She said: “I did not know what it was. I did not suspect it could have been semen at that point. He was then bringing me more drinks - probably one to three cups of coffee a week.

“Since that occasion I tipped them away in the sink - seeing the sort of substance in the sink - it was different size and quantities each time. At least six times I’ve seen it - I’ve not drunk it since that first time.”

A year later, the victim said she discovered multiple specimen containers in Mr Chapman’s possession which raised her suspicions further, adding: “I instantly suspected he had been putting semen in them and transporting them into my drink. I was in shock at that point. I noticed in this trouser pocket what looked like one of those bottles.”

She said the 55-year-old medic then offered to make her another cup of coffee which left her feeling “instantly ill” and she was “shaking” over the fact “he had put something in it.”

After going to the sink to tip it out, she said the drink was “gloopy” so she tipped some of it into her own specimen pots. She explained: “I felt very jumpy and worried he would catch me with this cup. I put the cup into a bag and dropped the sample off (to the police).”

“I remember the first time I saw stuff in the sink - he said did you notice something in your drink? I noticed something in mine, he said. Maybe that was the first time he did it and wanted to know if I’d noticed. It tasted salty”, she added.

The victim also described the defendant as “letchy” and said he had shown her pictures on his phone of his ‘erect penis’ on at least two occasions. She said: “I thought (the first time) it was a mistake and he must be really embarrassed.

“The second time I felt like it was on purpose. It made me feel very uncomfortable. It was not until I had seen the pots that I suspected it was semen in my drink. At times I refused a coffee but he would do it anyway.”

The GP was arrested when he turned up to work and suspended from his post at a health centre in Somerset, when the allegations came to light.

Giving evidence during the trial, Mr Chapman admitted he would masturbate at work but it was “not for pleasure”, before claiming that semen being found in the coffee must have been a “prank that went horribly wrong”. He told the court: “I don’t know why someone did that with my sample - I don’t know when someone did it or why.”

Mr Chapman went on to say he had collected samples to test for a condition he claims he has suffered from since the age of 16, where he involuntarily lets out semen while defecating. But there was nothing about this on his medical record, he told the court, and said he had “kept it secret” throughout the years.

He told the jury he had been collecting the samples while pooing at work on an “almost daily basis” since 2013, and acknowledged there were at least 10 to 12 “collections” per month and 140 collections a year that he did not put down the toilet.

Mr Chapman also described masturbation - including at work - as “nothing to do with pleasure - but a painful necessity”. Asked why he did not seek help for his problem or why it did not show on his medical records, the GP said: “GPs are often really bad at managing themselves.”

He was also questioned about his professionalism after two colleagues had seen pictures of his erect penis on his phone, which he claimed was by “accident” and described himself as being “mortified”.

Analysis of the coffee made on the 13 September 2021 found semen and DNA provided a match to the defendant, which was the occasion he was found guilty of.

Mr Chapman, who was described as a respected and experienced doctor, was born in South Africa, where he qualified as a doctor at the University of Cape Town in 1993.

Speaking after the verdict, the woman said she felt “betrayed” by the doctor’s “devious and cowardly” actions, which caused her “mental and emotional trauma”. In a statement, she said: “I feel betrayed by him, by his actions. He has made me feel powerless.

“The devious and cowardly nature has shocked me. If this was a physical attack I may have at least had a chance to defend myself. I’ve had to be open about this to my partner and family, but I often feel alone and that no one quite understands.

“I hope in the future I am able to put this all behind me and move on with my life. Though I have to accept that the mental and emotional trauma I have suffered throughout this will always remain with me in some way.”

Mr Chapman’s sentencing was adjourned until 6 July and he was released on conditional bail. Judge Rupert Lowe described it as a very “unusual case”, adding: “I haven’t made up my mind about the sentence and am not in a position to give any indication of what that may be.”

DS Rachel Walls, part of the investigation team, said after the verdict: “I wish to praise the complainant in this case. She was very brave to report this to the police and enable us to carry out a thorough investigation. It has been a long process and her victim personal statement goes some way to showing the effect of Dr Chapman’s crime.”

Officers kept the NHS Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group informed to ensure appropriate safeguarding measures were in place from the start of their enquiries.