‘You have diminished this world’: Judge upbraids cardiologist who drugged, sexually assaulted women he met on dating app, sentencing him to 158 years

A Colorado cardiologist was sentenced to 158 years for drugging and sexually assaulting women he met on dating apps.

Stephen Matthews, 37, learned his fate in a Denver courtroom on Friday.

“Mr. Matthews, you know, you have diminished this world,” District Court Judge Eric Johnson told Matthews, local ABC affiliate KMGH reported. “You have dimmed many of its lights. You’ve hurt our society, and it’s a darker place because of you. You brought disgrace upon yourself.”

Family members and victims spoke out in court, local CBS affiliate KCNC reported.

One of his victims called Matthews a “narcissistic monster” and a “serial rapist.”

“We are now a powerful army of survivors, and you are nothing,” the victim said, according to the TV the station’s report.

“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,” another victim said, local Fox affiliate KDVR reported.

Matthews’ defense attorney said he is appealing and blamed the verdict partially on the news media and law firms who labeled Matthews a sexual predator. His parents pleaded for leniency.

“I love you always, and no matter what,” his mother said.

After the sentencing, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in a statement, “Mr. Matthews incapacitated his victims and then sexually assaulted eight of them. 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,” said DA McCann. “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.”

He was convicted in August, as Law&Crime previously reported.

Matthews faced 38 various sexual assault criminal charges, and a jury found him guilty on all but three counts, according to a statement from the Denver District Attorney’s Office. He was found not guilty of sexual assault — incapable of apprising nature, sexual assault — physically helpless and sexual assault — submission against will.

According to prosecutors, the drugging and sexual assaults of at least 11 women took place from 2019 to 2023. Matthews was arrested for the first time in March 2023 after a woman claimed he drugged and sexually assaulted her following a date. He was arrested again in April 2023 and charged anew after nine more women came forward alleging the same. By October, over a dozen victims had come forward, and as noted by the Denver Post, some of Matthews’ victims said they had no idea of how they ended up waking up in his home or how they got there. One woman who did not take Matthews up on a second date said the former doctor responded to the rejection by sending her nude photographs of herself.

So sprawling were the 36-year-old man’s attacks that a former district attorney in Denver referred to Matthews at trial as “one of the most prolific serial rapists in the history of the state of Colorado,” KDVR reported.

At trial, 11 women stepped forward to testify against him, saying the former heart doctor met them on dating apps. His actions followed a distinct pattern: he would invite them on a date near his home, then invite them to come inside for something innocuous.

Some victims said Matthews claimed he had to walk his dog before agreeing to briefly enter his home. Then things grew dark, the women said. Matthews would offer the women a drink once inside. Then maybe he would insist they play a board game or otherwise try to get them to stay in the residence with him.

Bree Beasley, a prosecutor who delivered arguments at trial, told the jury this was all part of Matthews’ perverted ruse.

“When the defendant insists, ‘No, just stay for five more minutes,’ that stands out to her because the defendant knows how quickly this is going to act. And he knows if she just waits five more minutes, he’s got her. And he did. Because the next thing that she remembers is waking up completely naked on the floor, screaming, ‘What did you do?’ She’s terrified,” Beasley said, KDVR reported.

The women told jurors their memory of what happened to them next was often foggy — if not nonexistent — but always horrifying.

One woman, according to KDVR, told investigators that she remembered only waking up in Matthews’ home naked and handcuffed to the sofa while vomiting.

“Stephen Matthews took advantage of nearly a dozen women in the most egregious way imaginable, and for that, he will now pay a significant price. I hope today’s verdict provides a measure of comfort to all the victims, whose courage throughout this case should be an inspiration to us all,” Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said.

One woman who said she was raped by Matthews was put under difficult cross-examination and, at one point, acknowledged to his defense attorney that she sent a text message to him saying she thought she had been drugged but qualified it with, “I don’t think it was you.”

She apologized for her drinking and said she was embarrassed, according to local CBS affiliate KCNC.

Defense attorneys seized on this and suggested the woman was engaged in her own ruse and was trying to bait Matthews after feeling ashamed.

Brandi Buchman contributed to this report.

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