A serial rapist who cried in court as he was convicted over 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 during a four-year reign of terror between 2019 and early last year.
Eleven victims came forward to testify against him, but prosecutors fear there may have been dozens more as one labeled him “one of the most prolific serial rapists in Colorado history.”
The rapist doctor’s mother pleaded for leniency, telling him, “I love you always, no matter what,” but victims welcomed the verdict, labeling him a “narcissistic monster.”
“We are now a mighty army of survivors, and you are nothing,” said one.
Self-pitying rapist Stephen Matthews cried in the dock as he was convicted of 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, scoured online dating apps including Hinge and Tinder and tried to ‘strategically’ arrange dates near his home in the city’s Lower Highland area.
Prosecutors said there was a striking similarity between the stories of his victims.
Allie, who didn’t want her last name used, said she was “excited to go on a first date and get to know him” after seeing his profile on Hinge, complete with photos of his dog and his outdoor adventures.
The pair met at a bar for drinks in January last year and he suggested they walk to his mansion to walk his dog.
Allie said once there she went to the bathroom. When she came out, Matthews had given her a drink without asking if she wanted one.
“I didn’t want to be rude and I didn’t want to offend him, so I accepted the drink,” she said CBS News‘Brian Maas.
Allie said she had only drunk about a quarter of the glass when she started feeling sick and her speech became slurred.
“I remember at one point falling all the way to the ground and looking up at him as he was about to film me,” she said.
At this point Matthews placed her in a headlock and pulled her head back to forcefully kiss her. She said the position was “painful” and she couldn’t break free.
“I felt like I had to get out,” Allie said.
She escaped shoeless, vomiting and barely conscious in an Uber, but within days another victim was not so lucky.
Prosecutors said there was a striking similarity between the stories of his victims
Pictured: An image of convicted rapist Stephen Matthews’ Hinge dating profile
According to attorney Stephen J. Burg, the perverted cardiologist did his utmost to undermine his victim’s suspicions and used the same tactics every time.
Audrey met him for brunch before he invited her to his house, where they played Jenga and took a dip in his hot tub.
Her last memory is of drinking a drink he made for her before coming home hours later, with hickeys, bruises and no memory of what 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 the exact same memory; a date, a game of Jenga, a drink, a bubble bath – and nothing else.
One of them said that 10 hours after her meeting, Matthews was completely blank and “she had no idea how she got home.”
Defense lawyer Stephen J Burg said the dirty cardiologist would do his utmost to undermine his victim’s suspicions.
“He would build trust and then give them a drink, usually close to his house, and drug them with that drink,” he explained.
‘They would be very disabled and not know what was going on. And he would sexually abuse them.”
‘He was very smart and could build trust. He would say, ‘Let’s meet in a public place,’ talk about his dog and often use that as an excuse to go back to his house or apartment.”
One victim recalled vomiting and curling up in a fetal position after having drinks at Matthews’ home, before waking up at her home with Matthews in the room.
When she declined a second date, he sent her nude photos he had taken of her unconscious.
A fourth told investigators she remembered waking up naked alone in Matthews’ home and vomiting while handcuffed to his couch.
“This was methodical,” one victim told KDVR.
“This 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 in myself 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 would kill her
Allie, who did not want her last name used, said she connected with Matthews on the Hinge dating app and was “excited to go on a first date and get to know him.”
After the last victim ‘Audrey’ went to the police, they found a string of women with the exact same story at the hands of Denver’s rape doctor Stephen Matthews
Allie discovered there was already a Facebook group where Matthews’ victims started to find out 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 medic was indicted on 38 counts against eleven women, nine of whom he raped.
“When the defendant insists, ‘No, stay five more minutes,’ she notices because the defendant knows how quickly this is going to happen,” prosecutor Bree Beasley told the jury.
“And he knows if she waits just five more minutes, he’s got her. And he did.
‘Cause the next thing she remembers is waking up completely naked on the floor and screaming, ‘What have you done?’ She’s terrified.’
Matthews cried in the dock as he was convicted of 35 charges in August and returned to court on Friday to learn his fate.
“You shrunk this world,” District Court Judge Eric Johnson told him as she handed down the sentence.
“You dimmed a lot of the lights. You have hurt our society, and it is a darker place because of you. You have disgraced yourself.’
Audrey said Matthews “gave us all a life sentence, but not behind bars.”
“One of the hardest things about sexual assault and rape is that your body is the crime scene, and you carry that with you forever.”
Allie said she has “no doubt” there are more victims yet to be identified because Matthews was a regular on the dating apps.
“I believe the survivors who have come forward are just the tip of the iceberg,” she added.
‘It was a huge 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 pleaded for leniency, telling him, “I love you always, no matter what,” but victims welcomed the verdict, labeling him a “narcissistic monster.”
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann thanked the rapist’s survivors for bringing him to justice.
“Stephen Matthews most egregiously abused nearly a dozen women, 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 in this case should be an inspiration to us all.”