Cardiologist Lured Women into His Home Before Drugging, Raping and Gaslighting Them: 'Narcissistic Monster'

A Denver cardiologist was sentenced to 158 years in prison — the maximum sentence — after being found guilty of drugging 11 women he met on dating apps and sexually assaulting eight of them, prosecutors said.

Stephen Matthews "incapacitated his victims and then sexually assaulted eight of them,” Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in a news release on Friday, Oct. 25. 

“This guy is one of the most prolific serial rapists in the history of the state of Colorado,” former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said, KDVR reports.

The sentence was met in court with cheers and applause by victims who shared the pain and long-lasting trauma they’ve suffered after being drugged and raped by Matthews.

Calling him a "narcissistic monster" and a "serial rapist,” one of the victims who spoke during the sentencing said, "We are now a powerful army of survivors," adding, "and you are nothing,” CBS News reports.

Another victim said, “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,” KDVR reports.

In August, Matthews, 37, was convicted of 35 of 38 counts related to the drugging and sexual assault of numerous women.

He was arrested in March 2023 after one woman came forward to Denver police, reporting that she had been drugged and raped during a date at Matthews’ townhouse, according to the arrest affidavit, Denver 7 reports.

Believing that Matthews may have drugged and raped other women, Denver police asked other potential victims to come forward.

In May 2023, Matthews was arrested again after nine other women came forward saying that they, too, had been drugged and raped by Matthews, according to the arrest affidavit.

During the trial, jurors learned how Matthews would lure women to his townhouse by meeting them on dating apps such as Tinder and Hinge.

One woman said during the sentencing hearing that his profile that advertised an athletic, handsome doctor with a dog was appealing to women, Denver 7 reports. “He used my softness as a reason to target me," the woman said.

He would spike their drinks with a substance that left them with spotty memories of their time with him.

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Some of the victims testified that after having drinks with Matthews, they passed out and when they woke up, they were shocked to find themselves in bed and naked with Matthews after he'd raped them, prosecutors said, CBS News reports.

After the sexual assaults, Matthews would try to “gaslight” the victims, telling them they drank too much. One victim said Matthews engaged in an "appalling amount of gaslighting and victim-blaming," Denver 7 reports.

During closing arguments, a prosecutor said, “This is an obvious, obvious case of a man who feels entitled to perpetrate against women for his own benefit by robbing them of memory, by robbing them of bodily autonomy, and by impairing their memories, only to have them come in and testify and criticize them for the fact that (their memories) don't exist."

Matthews' lawyer, Douglas Cohen, said Matthews will appeal the conviction, CBS News reports.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.