She was a schoolteacher in 2020, looking for a loving relationship when she hit it off with a Denver-area doctor on a dating app. The two talked for a month before she agreed to meet him at his home. It seemed like a normal first date as the two got to know one another over cocktails and played Jenga, but soon she became violently ill and passed out on the man’s bathroom floor. What followed was blurry memories of a sexual assault that made her fearful and suicidal. When she withdrew from teaching in 2023, the experience of saying goodbye to her students on her last day was overshadowed by her recollections of the attack. “You placed a substance in our tequila drinks and then proceeded to take full advantage of our minds, bodies and souls,” she said in a Friday sentencing hearing. “I have really struggled with this burden that I could have done something to change you, something to stop this.” Hers was one of many stories of humiliation, grief and despair that survivors of convicted serial sexual predator and disgraced cardiologist Stephen Matthews told a Denver courtroom on Friday before he was sentenced to 158 years’ imprisonment. For years, Matthews drugged and attacked no fewer than 11 women, keeping what victims described as “trophies” in the form of videos and photographs of them being sexually assaulted and struggling to walk and stand. A jury found him guilty in August of 35 felony counts of assault and sexual assault. Denver District Judge Eric Johnson sentenced Matthews to 96 years in prison for eight counts of sexual assault, 60 years in prison for 10 counts of second-degree assault and two years in jail for one count of third-degree assault, all of which will be served consecutively. Among the lingering fears of Matthews’ survivors is the possibility that more women — “undoubtedly dozens more,” one victim said — were attacked before his pattern of predatory behavior was brought to light, leading to his arrest in March 2023. When Matthews encountered his victims after assaulting them, he was flirtatious. He blamed their incapacitation on a lack of tolerance to alcohol. His victims, in turn, blamed themselves for accepting the alcoholic beverages that Matthews had spiked without their knowledge. They reflected with disgust on engaging in sexual intercourse that they were unable to consent to. Many said they contemplated suicide as they were tormented by fragmentary memories and nightmares of time spent at Matthews’ home. In a statement read by another victim, one coworker of Matthews described how he drugged her during a tour of his home in 2022 after she agreed to look after his dog while he was out of town. During the next four nights, she wrote that she would lock the door of her guest bedroom and push furniture in front of the door should Matthews return home early. When he returned, the victim wrote that he tried to ask her on a date, telling her he had “a great time” and “would love to do it again.” “The first time I saw Stephen at work after the incident, he greeted me by saying, ‘Oh, hey, look who it is, the girl who can’t handle her alcohol,’ ” the victim wrote. “He took any passing opportunity in the hallway to brush his hand against mine. He continued to comment on my low alcohol tolerance. He continued to gaslight me into thinking I drank excessively, and he did so frequently that I began to believe him, really believe him.” Many women said they were inclined to trust Matthews because of his position as a doctor, accepting on faith his excuse that they had blacked out from drinking too many alcoholic beverages rather than the drugs that Matthews slipped into their drinks. “He checked many of the boxes women on dating apps are looking for,” wrote another woman who was not named among the victims in the case but who said Matthews also assaulted her after giving her an alcoholic drink tainted with drugs. “Unfortunately for all of us, what Stephen Matthews wanted in a partner was not a relationship or even a willing participant in sex at all. No. What got Stephen Matthews off was a completely incapacitated partner, unable to say ‘no’ to whatever he chose to do to them.” Matthews’ victims were outgoing and successful — some were medical professionals, teachers or graduate students. The women who testified Friday said the attacks derailed their careers, leaving them traumatized, fearful and unable to maintain relationships. Matthews used dating apps to find his victims, sometimes agreeing to meet in a public place before finding an excuse to lead them to his house. One survivor said she met Matthews in January 2023 after the two connected on an app over a shared love of dogs and passion for medicine. When she arrived at his home, the woman said Matthews pressured her to have one drink, and then another, and another. She became disoriented, and Matthews placed her in a headlock and kissed her. As she struggled to protect herself and keep her balance, Matthews took a cellphone video of her that the woman said was played by Matthews’ defense attorneys during the trial in an attempt to discredit her. “I saw my ability to control my body slipping away as I stumbled,” she said. “I saw a moment in my life that I didn’t know existed, but he made sure he could keep it for himself. … They used my attacker’s trophy of my assault to make jokes at my expense.” She added that she escaped Matthews’ house on foot after she was drugged, leaving her shoes and jacket behind in the winter cold. At the time of the attack, the woman said she had just purchased a home and was hoping to find a partner to share it with. In the year and several months since, she said she has struggled to rebuild her self-confidence. “Nearly two years later, I still feel afraid to answer my front door,” she said. “He has burdened and retraumatized us with this trial because he is not human enough to tell the truth.” After Matthews’ survivors and their loved ones testified for hours that he was remorseless and beyond rehabilitation, members of Matthews’ family pleaded for mercy, saying the 37-year-old was still capable of making a positive contribution. His mother, Debbie Steinke, described how he persevered in school despite learning difficulties, graduating with honors from the University of Colorado Boulder and pursuing a medical degree out of a genuine desire to help others. “I’m asking you, judge, to please give him the opportunity to overcome yet another major obstacle, to become a better person and an asset to society by granting a sentence that does not simply throw away the key,” she said. “He has a good and kind heart. Maybe not in here today, but I have seen it.” Related Articles Crime and Public Safety | Denver man convicted of trying to entice 13-year-old for sex Crime and Public Safety | Denver Lyft driver convicted of 30 crimes, including kidnapping, sexual assault Crime and Public Safety | Opinion: Serving only half a sentence for armed robbery? Colorado’s weak parole laws can be fixed with Prop 128 Crime and Public Safety | Jefferson County trail predator sentenced to prison for flashing, groping female hikers Crime and Public Safety | Mountain Range High School dean sent more than a dozen inappropriate pictures to underage student on Snapchat, police say Matthews did not make a statement Friday, and defense attorney Douglas Cohen said Matthews would require a public defender if he pursues an appeal because he has become indigent since being forced to cease work as a doctor. Johnson, the district court judge, addressed Matthews directly before handing down the sentence, describing the evidence of his guilt as “patently overwhelming.” “Mr. Matthews, you have diminished this world. You have dimmed many of its lights. You have hurt our society and it’s a darker place because of you. You have brought disgrace upon yourself and upon the name your parents gave you,” Johnson said. Johnson also addressed the victims in the case, urging them to seek closure within themselves and their families. “You were believed,” Johnson said. “The verdict says that, and the Venn diagram between not proven and innocent is not a circle.” Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.