A former cardiologist accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman he met on a dating app sobbed and put his head in his hands to hide the tears that flowed endlessly as a jury found him guilty in a Denver court on Tuesday of charges that could carry a 25-year prison sentence.
Steven Matthews was convicted of 35 of 38 charges, including sexual assault and second-degree assault. CBS News reported.
Matthews, 36, was arrested in March last year after a woman reported she had been assaulted after going to brunch, prompting other women to come forward with complaints. 9News reported.
During closing arguments last week, prosecutors detailed how the victims met Matthews on online dating apps such as Hinge and Tinder between 2019 and 2023, and many of the victims gave similar accounts of events with Matthews.
The victims said they had drinks with the doctor, couldn’t remember what happened that night, believed they had been drugged, and in some cases had been sexually assaulted, CBS reported.
Matthews was emotional in court Tuesday, often hiding his face in his hands or sobbing, but the victims said they did not believe he was remorseful for the pain he caused them.
“The sentence doesn’t change what happened to you. I will suffer physical and mental problems for the rest of my life as a result of what happened to me,” one of the victims told CBS.
“I don’t think he regrets what he did. I think he regrets getting caught,” she added.
Another victim accused Mr Matthews of taking “years of our lives”.
At trial, prosecutors argued that Matthews strategically targeted his victims, often meeting them not far from his home before inviting them into his home.
“What we know is that this is a crystal clear case of a man who felt entitled to abuse a woman for his own gain by robbing her of her memory, depriving her of her bodily autonomy and impairing her memory,” the prosecutor said.
In their closing arguments, the defense argued that the case is filled with conflicting stories from the alleged victims and lacks evidence or proof.
“This was a case about reporting and at the end of the case the prosecution charged that it had based its conclusions primarily on reports that changed and were often not verified by the government,” the defense said.
“There was an overwhelming amount of emotion in this case. We were all moved by the testimony you heard. It was difficult to listen to, but ultimately, overwhelming emotion and weak evidence were the themes of this case.”
The former doctor has been in jail on $5 million bail since his arrest and faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 25 years in prison.
In a statement, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann praised the victims for their courage in coming forward.
“Stephen Matthews exploited nearly a dozen women in the most heinous way imaginable and will now pay a heavy price for it. I hope that today’s sentence will serve as an inspiration to us all, as will the bravery shown by all the victims throughout this case,” Mr McCann said.
“I want to thank the prosecutors, investigators, victim advocates and paralegals in my office, as well as the detectives at the Denver Police Department, whose outstanding work has brought us to this point today. I also want to thank the jury for their hard work during this long and emotional trial. It’s clear that justice was served today.”
Matthews is scheduled to be sentenced on October 25th.
