Stephen Matthews Case: 158-Year Sentence, Match Group Lawsuit

Stephen Matthews, the Denver cardiologist case, ended with a 158-year prison sentence handed down on October 25, 2024, after a Denver jury convicted the former doctor of drugging 10 women he met on Hinge and Tinder and sexually assaulting eight of them between 2019 and 2023. The case, tried as Denver District Court number 2023CR2763, has since prompted a Colorado dating-app safety law and a civil lawsuit against Match Group, the parent company of Hinge and Tinder.

How He Targeted Women

Prosecutors described a consistent method. Matthews used Hinge and Tinder to meet women and invite them to his west Denver townhouse. Once there, he spiked their drinks with an unknown substance. Victims reported only fragmented memories after drinking, and several testified that they regained consciousness naked in bed with Matthews, who had raped them.¹

When women later asked about injuries or memory gaps, Matthews told them the incidents were their own fault and suggested they had drunk too much, according to trial testimony. In at least one instance he sent nude photographs to a woman who refused to see him again.¹

How the Case Came Together

The investigation began with a woman who met Matthews on Hinge and went to brunch on January 29, 2023. She drank alcohol at his home, felt unwell, and lost all memory from roughly noon to 9:40 p.m. She had a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner exam the next day and later learned a family friend had described a strikingly similar experience with Matthews years earlier.²

Denver police arrested Matthews in March 2023 on three counts of sexual assault, and he posted a $50,000 bond. After media coverage of that arrest, nine more women came forward. Matthews was arrested again in May 2023. On October 6, 2023, he was arraigned on 51 felony counts involving 13 women and pleaded not guilty. His bond was reset at $5 million.³

The Trial and 35 Convictions

Matthews stood trial in Denver District Court before Judge Eric Johnson in August 2024. By trial, the charges had been narrowed from 51 counts to 38 counts involving 11 women.⁴

Prosecutors showed that Matthews had tried to delete text conversations and videos involving his victims from his cellphone. Senior Deputy District Attorney Victoria Kelley said afterward that investigators recovered deleted messages from other electronic devices and that Matthews “definitely” tried to get rid of things on his phone but did not do it effectively enough to defeat the forensic work.⁵

After more than three days of deliberation, the jury convicted Matthews of 35 of the 38 counts. The convictions covered drugging 10 women and sexually assaulting eight of them.⁶ Senior Deputy District Attorney Bree Beasley said the office chose not to pursue roughly 30 additional reports because doing so would have extended the trial by months, and Kelley said she believed there were “dozens or more” victims beyond those covered by the charges.⁵

The 158-Year Sentence

On October 25, 2024, Judge Johnson sentenced Matthews to 158 years in prison, the maximum allowed. The hearing ran four and a half hours, with 21 people giving victim impact statements. One woman told the court, “I let your actions eat me alive for years.” Another said, “We are now a powerful army of survivors.”⁷

Judge Johnson said a separate sentence for each victim was necessary because a single sentence would “depreciate” the heinousness of the crimes. He told Matthews, “You have diminished this world. You have dimmed many of its lights,” and told the survivors, “You were believed. The verdict said that.”⁷

The court designated Matthews a sexually violent predator and ordered him to pay $25,766 in victim restitution along with fines and costs. Matthews did not speak at the hearing; his attorney said he stayed silent because he intended to appeal.¹

Medical License Permanently Revoked

Matthews had voluntarily stopped practicing medicine in May 2023 after the initial charges. On March 4, 2025, the Colorado Medical Board formally and permanently revoked his license. He signed an agreement conceding that if the facts of the case were proven, his conduct would constitute “unprofessional conduct,” and he agreed never to apply for reactivation, reinstatement, or a new medical license in Colorado.⁸

Colorado’s New Dating App Safety Law

The Matthews case became a catalyst for state regulation of dating platforms. State Senator Faith Winter cited Matthews’ ability to stay active on Hinge despite being reported as a reason for the bill. Senate Bill 24-011, the Online Dating Services Safety Act, was signed on June 5, 2024, and took effect on August 7, 2024.⁹

The law requires dating services with Colorado users to adopt and publicly post a safety policy covering prohibited conduct, background screening, identity and age verification, misconduct reporting, and resources for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Companies must file an annual safety report with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office and include the URL of their safety policy. Noncompliance can be treated as a deceptive trade practice. The attorney general filed proposed rules in October 2025 and adopted final rules on February 4, 2026.¹⁰ The law does not require platforms to publicly disclose the number of sexual assault reports they receive.¹¹

Civil Lawsuit Against Match Group

On December 16, 2025, six of Matthews’ victims filed a 54-page civil lawsuit in Denver District Court against Match Group, the parent company of Hinge and Tinder. The plaintiffs, proceeding anonymously, are represented by attorney Carrie Goldberg together with the firms Dormer Harpring and Gerash Steiner, P.C.¹²

The complaint alleges Match Group was first notified in September 2020 that Matthews was assaulting women on its platforms yet he remained active for three more years. It claims that even after Hinge purportedly banned him, the app kept recommending him to users and at one point promoted him as a “Standout” match. One plaintiff says that after she reported Matthews for rape, Hinge recommended him to her again months later.¹³

The suit’s legal theories include negligence for failing to remove a known abuser, defective product design under Colorado product liability law (particularly the disappearance of the reporting function when a user is unmatched), failure to warn users about known risks, and violations of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act. Plaintiffs seek unspecified economic and compensatory damages. Legal analysts have noted the suit faces potential hurdles under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which generally shields online platforms from liability for user-generated content.¹³

Prosecutors in the criminal case had encountered their own resistance from Match Group. According to The Markup, a July 2023 search warrant served on the company was not satisfied until February 2024, and only after a judge threatened to intervene.¹¹

Where Things Stand

Matthews is serving his 158-year sentence at the Crowley County Correctional Facility in Colorado.⁸ His defense attorney said at sentencing that he intended to appeal, but as of the most recent available information, no appeal has been formally filed or decided. The civil lawsuit against Match Group, filed in December 2025, remains pending in Denver District Court.

1
CBS News Colorado. Stephen Matthews Sentenced to 158 Years for Drugging, Sexually Assaulting Women
2
Denver7. Denver PD Seeking Additional Information After Cardiologist Arrested for Sexual Assault
3
ABC News. Denver Doctor Accused of Sexually Assaulting Women on Dating Apps
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Cardiovascular Business. Cardiologist Receives 158 Years to Life in Prison for Drugging, Sexually Assaulting Multiple Women
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CBS News Colorado. Stephen Matthews Tried to Scrub Evidence From Phone, Prosecutors Say
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People. Stephen Matthews, Cardiologist Who Lured Women Home, Drugging and Raping Them
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Denver7. Drugging, Rape Victims Applaud Sentence in Stephen Matthews Case
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CBS News Colorado. Colorado Strips Cardiologist Stephen Matthews of Medical License Following Rape Convictions
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Colorado General Assembly. SB24-011: Online-Facilitated Misconduct and Remote Tracking
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Colorado Attorney General. Dating Safety
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The Markup. Dating App Investigation
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Courthouse News Service. Women Accuse Hinge, Tinder of Setting Them Up With a Serial Predator
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The 19th. Dating App Rape Survivors Lawsuit Against Hinge, Tinder