A serial rapist who wept in court when he was found guilty of a series of attacks on women he met on dating sites has been sentenced to 158 years in prison.
Cardiologist Stephen Matthews drugged and raped women after luring them to his Denver home in a four-year reign of terror between 2019 and early last year.
Eleven victims came forward to testify against him, but prosecutors fear there were dozens more, with one calling him “one of the most prolific serial rapists in the history of the state of Colorado.”
The rapist doctor’s mother asked for mercy and told him: “I love you always and no matter what happens,” but the victims welcomed the sentence, calling him a “narcissistic monster.”
“Now we are a mighty army of survivors and you are nothing,” said one.
Self-pitying rapist Stephen Matthews cried in the dock as he was convicted on 35 charges
He was sentenced to 135 years for drugging 11 women and raping nine after meeting them on dating sites during a four-year reign of terror from 2019 to early 2023.
Matthews, 37, cried in the dock when he was found guilty of 35 charges in August and returned to court Friday to learn his fate.
“You have diminished this world,” District Court Judge Eric Johnson told him as he handed down the sentence.
‘You have dimmed many of its lights. You have hurt our society and it is a darker place because of you. You brought dishonor upon yourself.’
Matthews searched online dating apps, including Hinge and Tinder, and “strategically” tried to set up dates near his home in the city’s Lower Highland neighborhood.
Prosecutors said there was a striking similarity between his victims’ accounts.
Allie, who did not want her last name used, said she was “excited to go on a first date and meet him,” after seeing his Hinge profile complete with photos of his dog and his outdoor adventures.
The couple met in a bar for a drink in January last year and he suggested walking home to let their dog out.
Allie said that once there, she went to the bathroom. When she came out, Matthews had made her a drink without asking if she wanted one.
“I didn’t want to be rude or offend him, so I took the drink,” she said. CBS News‘Brian Maass.
Allie said she had only drunk about a quarter of the glass when she started feeling sick and speaking slurred.
“I remember at one point I fell to the ground and looked at him when he was about to film me,” she said.
At this point, Matthews put her in a headlock and pulled her head back to forcibly kiss her. He said the position was “painful” and he could not free himself.
“I felt like I had to get out,” Allie said.
She escaped, barefoot, vomiting and barely conscious in an Uber, but a few days later another victim was not so lucky.
Prosecutors said there was a striking similarity between his victims’ accounts.
Pictured: An image of convicted rapist Stephen Matthews’ Hinge dating profile
The perverted cardiologist would go to great lengths to mislead his victim’s suspicions, according to attorney Stephen J. Burg, and used the same tactics in each case.
Audrey met him for lunch before he invited her back to his house, where they played Jenga and took a dip in his hot tub.
Her last memory is of taking a sip of a drink he made her, before coming to, hours later, returning to her own house with hickeys, bruises and no memory of what had happened.
Matthews was a trusted and respected member of the Colorado medical community.
She went to the police and when they started investigating they found more women with exactly the same memory; a date, a game of Jenga, a drink, a jacuzzi… and nothing more.
One said that 10 hours after meeting Matthews he was completely blank and “had no idea how he got home.”
Attorney Stephen J. Burg said the perverted cardiologist would do everything possible to mislead his victim’s suspicions.
“He would build trust and then take them out for a drink, usually near his house, and drug them with that drink,” he explained.
‘They would be very, very affected and wouldn’t know what was happening. And he would sexually assault them.”
‘He was very intelligent and capable of building trust. He would say: ‘See you in a public place,’ he would talk about his dog and often use it as an excuse to return to his house or apartment.
One victim recalled vomiting and curling up in the fetal position after having a single drink at Matthews’ home before waking up at home with Matthews in the room.
When she turned down a second date, he sent her nude photographs he had taken of her unconscious.
A fourth told investigators she only remembered waking up naked in Matthews’ home and vomiting while handcuffed to his couch.
“This was methodical,” one victim told KDVR.
‘It wasn’t about consent. This wasn’t about sex. It was about control. He used his position and title as a former doctor to abuse trust with me and others.’
Allie, 34, said her meeting with cardiologist Stephen Matthews in January last year was “the scariest day of my life” as she feared he might kill her.
Allie, who did not want her last name used, said she connected with Matthews through the dating app Hinge and was “excited to go on a first date and meet him.”
After the latest victim, ‘Audrey’, went to the police, they found a succession of women with exactly the same story at the hands of Denver doctor rapist Stephen Matthews.
Allie discovered there was already a Facebook group where Matthews’ victims were beginning to piece together what had happened to them and police arrested him in March last year.
By October, more than a dozen victims had come forward and the doctor was charged with 38 counts against 11 women, nine of whom he raped.
“When the defendant insists, ‘No, stay five more minutes,’ that gets your attention because you know how quickly he’s going to act,” prosecutor Bree Beasley told the jury.
And he knows that if she waits five more minutes, he will have her. And he did it.
‘Because the next thing she remembers is waking up completely naked on the floor, screaming, ‘What did you do?’ She is terrified.
Audrey said Matthews “gave us all life sentences, but not behind bars.”
“One of the hardest things about sexual assault and rape is that your body is the scene of the crime and you carry it with you forever.”
Allie said she has “no doubt” there are more victims who have not yet been identified because Matthews was a regular user of dating apps.
“I think the survivors who came forward are just the tip of the iceberg,” he added.
‘It was a great relief when the jury said they believed me and the other women.
“Every day there is at least one moment of my day that revolves around this person who hurt me.”
The rapist doctor’s mother asked for mercy and told him: “I love you always and no matter what happens,” but the victims welcomed the sentence, calling him a “narcissistic monster.”
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann thanked the rapist’s survivors for bringing him to justice.
“Stephen Matthews preyed on nearly a dozen women in the most egregious way imaginable and for that he will now pay a significant price,” she said.
“I hope that today’s verdict provides some comfort to all the victims, whose courage throughout this case should be an inspiration to us all.”