A cardiologist accused of drugging and sexually assaulting women he met on dating apps could face criminal charges, but his case could also lead to changes in Colorado law.
Stephen Matthews appeared in Denver District Court earlier this morning for his arraignemt. Matthews faces 51 felony counts related to the alleged drugging and sexual assault of 13 women.
“Matthews was first arrested on March 27 for sexual assault – victim helpless, sexual assault – no consent and sexual assault – victim incapable appraising condition. He posted a $50,000 bond. Investigators at the time said there was a possibility of more victims,” reprots Denver 7.
His first arrest came in March, with another arrest in May after nine victims came forward. According to Denver 7, “the alleged assaults occurred as early as 2019, according to an arrest affidavit.”
“We have a group of survivors at all different phases in the process of dealing with what they’ve went through. And our group is really focused on preventing a serial rape in a situation that can happen on the dating sites,” said attorney Stephen Burg with Burg Simpson Law Firm, who is representing some of the women in civil court in a report obtained by Denver7.
While Burg is holding off on pursing a lawsuit until criminal charges have been completed, he did say that advocacy group and the parent company of Tinder and Hinge, the Match Group will move forward with charges. The group had this to say in part, in a statement:
“What’s been reported is horrible and has no place on our platforms or anywhere. At Match Group, we are committed to help keep our community safe and we continuously work to improve our systems to help prevent bad actors from accessing our platform. Our teams use a combination of automated tools and human moderation to help remove bad actors proactively. We have fully cooperated with law enforcement and will continue to provide any information to them that would be helpful for their investigation.”
If you or someone you know has been assaulted by Matthews, the law firm urges you to call them at 303-792-5595.
“I’m hopeful that this next session, the legislative session, that everybody will take a strong look at the dating app regulations and include safety in there. There’s some language about fraud, and that’s helpful. But I think we really need to focus in on safety,” said Burg
