DENVER — A former Denver cardiologist convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting multiple women after meeting them on dating apps like Hinge and Tinder was sentenced Friday to 158 years in prison.
Stephen Matthews, 37, was arrested in March 2023 after a woman reported he had assaulted her after they went to brunch. After her story was made public, more women came forward to report they were victimized by Matthews. Eleven victims testified against him at his trial.
Matthews' trial began on July 15. Several victims testified that they suffered memory loss after their encounters with Matthews. Family members and friends of some of the victims testified that the victims appeared abnormally drunk or disheveled after meeting Matthews.
"I am scarred by what happened to me that afternoon," one victim shared at Friday's sentencing. "I have been in therapy for the last 18 months. Stephen Matthews took away what normal looks like to me. I developed debilitating anxiety and PTSD when having sexual encounters where men touching me make me tremble and cry."
"Do you know what it feels like when you genuinely, truly wonder if you're about to die? I do because of my attacker," another victim said. "I don't think there are words to describe what I felt losing my ability to function and protect myself and there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening."
In August, a jury found Matthews guilty on 35 of 38 counts in Denver District Court.
On Friday, Matthews received the maximum sentence of 158 years in prison.
"In here today, there is a room full of pain," Judge Eric Johnson said. "And this is pain that you caused your victims. So much suffering. None of it deserved."
Judge Johnson deemed Matthews a "sexually violent predator" who would likely harm someone else if released.
"Mr. Matthews, you have diminished this world," Johnson said. "Dimmed many of its lights, hurt our society and it is a darker place because of you."
“Mr. Matthews incapacitated his victims and then sexually assaulted eight of them," Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in a release. "Given the despicable nature of those crimes, I am very pleased with the sentence imposed today by Judge Johnson. I hope this sentence sends the message to everyone in Denver that people who take advantage of others in the way that Mr. Matthews did will be prosecuted by my office to the fullest extent of the law. I also hope today’s sentence provides a measure of comfort to all of Mr. Matthews’ victims, whose courage in coming forward resulted in this successful outcome. Finally, I want to thank the prosecutors, investigators, victim advocates and paralegals from my office, as well as the detectives from the Denver Police Department, for their outstanding work on the case.”
