A former Colorado cardiologist convicted of drugging and raping multiple women he met on a dating app heard from those women Friday before a judge sentenced him to 158 years in prison.
Family members and friends of Stephen Matthews’ 11 victims spoke up too, before Judge Eric Johnson told him that he had “egregiously” broken social constructs and “diminished this world.”
Matthews, 37, was convicted in August on 35 felony counts of assault and sexual assault, as CrimeOnline reported. He was first arrested in March 2023 and charged with drugging and raping a woman in Denver. Ultimately, 10 more women came forward and he was charged with 38 counts. He pleaded not guilty to all 38, and was convicted on all but three.
The trial included a vast amount of evidence, such as pictures and videos Matthews took of the victims without their consent.
More than 20 people spoke at Friday’s sentencing hearing, KMGH reported, including Matthews’ parents, who asked for leniency, saying he could be rehabilitated. But the former doctor’s victims and their friends and family were steadfast.
“I’m never going to be able to remember, but I’m also never going to be able to forget,” one woman told him in a statement reiterated by several of the victims, who said they couldn’t recall specifics but that what happened changed them.
“I let your actions eat me alive for years,” another woman woman told Matthews in court.
A mother told the convicted rapist he “tore her life apart.”
“You took away her trust and happiness and ability to enjoy life in an open and carefree way,” she said about her daughter.
The testimony also took aim at Matthews’ defense attorneys, with one saying they presented an “appalling amount of gaslighting and victim-blaming,” including playing a video in court that Matthews had recorded on his cell phone.
A family member, who is an attorney, told the court she was saddened by the “victim-blaming, gaslighting and disdain (the defense) had for these women.” Ridiculing them in courtwas an “unnecessary infliction of pain,” she said.
But the judge was particularly harsh as he handed down the maximum sentence, eight consecutive 12-year sentences on the rape charges.
“Mr. Matthews, you know, you have diminished this world,” Johnson said. “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.”
“And in here today, there is a room full of pain. And this is pain that you have caused your victims,” he continued. “So much suffering, none of it deserved. I also acknowledge in this room full of pain, your family and that you have caused them to suffer.
“Your family had to hear the anger and the pain that you caused victims directed at them. Your family just wanted to be proud of you and to love you, and they will still love you. Mom, stepfather, father — I get it as a parent. They’re always going to love you, but the shame you have brought on them will be a heavy burden that they will bear the rest of their lives. I’m sure they raised you better.”
Matthews’ attorney, Douglas Todd Cohen, said he was preparing an appeal.
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[Featured image: Stephen Matthews/Denver Police Department]
