A former Colorado cardiologist learned his fate after being convicted of drugging and raping “dozens or more” women he met on dating apps.
Judge Eric Johnson sentenced 37-year-old Stephen Matthews to 158 years in prison — the maximum sentence for his crimes. Matthews had been charged with 38 counts in connection with what prosecutors said were patterns of alleged sexual assaults. He was convicted on 35 charges, including eight sexual assault convictions in August. Matthews also was ordered to register as a sex offender.
‘So much suffering, none of it deserved.’
Matthews’ victims and their families inside the courtroom applauded the longer-than-life prison sentence, according to the New York Post.
“Evidence in this case is overwhelming,” Judge Eric Johnson said during sentencing. “Mr. Matthews, you know, you have diminished this world. You have dimmed many of its lights. You’ve hurt our society, and it’s a darker place because of you.”
The judge added, according to KMGH-TV, “It would be improper — it would depreciate what you have done, the heinousness of your crimes — if you did not serve a sentence for each victim individually.”
Johnson continued, “And in here today, there is a room full of pain. And this is pain that you have caused your victims. So much suffering, none of it deserved.”
The judge said Matthews “even managed to ruin dating applications” by causing young girls and young women to fear dating apps “as another danger zone.”
Johnson told the victims, “You were believed. The verdict said that.”
The district attorney filed charges in connection with 11 victims — nine of whom said they were sexually assaulted.
Between 2019 and 2023, prosecutor Victoria Kelley said she was certain there were “dozens or more” victims of Matthews’ sexual assaults.
“This guy is one of the most prolific serial rapists in the history of the state of Colorado,” said former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.
One of the victims said, “We are now a powerful army of survivors — and you are nothing.” She described Matthews as a “narcissistic monster” and a “serial rapist.”
Matthews was first arrested in March 2023 after a woman filed a report with the Denver Police Department saying that during a date he drugged and sexually assaulted her. Matthews was arrested again in May 2023 after nine more women came forward with similar allegations against the doctor.
Prosecutors said Matthews preyed on his victims and had a disturbing pattern to his sexual assaults.
After matching on dating apps such as Hinge and Tinder, Matthews would set up dates at public places such as parks, bars, and restaurants that were in a close proximity to the former doctor’s home.
‘I knew that my ability to control my body was quickly disappearing, and if I did not leave within minutes, I didn’t think I would ever be able to leave.’
Some victims said Matthews claimed he had to go back to his house nearby to walk his dog. Matthews allegedly would ask the women to play board games and then gave his victims alcohol. The women said they suffered large memory gaps after having the drinks.
One victim said she agreed to go to his house to let his dog out. Once inside, she used the bathroom, and he had mixed a drink for her that she never asked for.
“I didn’t want to be rude and didn’t want to offend him so I took the drink,” she said.
After drinking about a quarter of the drink, the woman quickly began to feel physically ill, her speech was slurred, and she began losing her memory and her motor skills.
“I remember at one point falling all the way to the ground and looking up at him as he was about to film me,” the victim said.
She said the Matthews put his arm around her neck and shoulders and put her in a headlock, then pulled her head back to forcibly kiss her, which she said was “painful.”
“I felt like I had to get out,” she said. “I knew that my ability to control my body was quickly disappearing and if I did not leave within minutes, I didn’t think I would ever be able to leave.”
She ran from the cardiologist’s home without her coat, purse, and shoes.
The victim got into an Uber vehicle and vomited “uncontrollably” while in the car. Several other women said they also vomited after Matthews drugged them.
Another victim was drugged and then handcuffed to a sofa inside the former doctor’s house.
“She talked with [a detective] about the horrific things she remembers,” prosecutor Bree Beasley told the jury. “She remembers brief periods of time where she wakes up handcuffed, and she’s naked on the defendant’s sofa and wakes up vomiting.”
Another victim said within an hour and 27 minutes, Matthews drugged her, filmed her as he assaulted her, and put her into a rideshare car that took her home. She had suffered a head injury, and her underwear was ripped.
“You drugged me and raped me and manipulated me into thinking it was my fault,” one of the victims said.
One of the victims added during Matthews’ sentencing, “This was methodical. This wasn’t about consent. This wasn’t about sex. It was about control. He used his position and the title of former doctor to abuse trust with myself and others.”
Matthews did not speak at his sentencing hearing. His attorney, Douglas Cohen, said that was because his client plans to appeal his conviction.
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Rape, Sex crimes, Sexual assault, Sex abuse, Drugging, Rapists, Crime, Serial rapist
