LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Three women say they were sexually assaulted by the same man, Matthew Leonard Werner. And police say there have been other accusers as well. It’s a story we’ve been covering – and the LAPD has been investigating – for a long time.
“Mr. Werner has been on the LAPD’s radar for a number of years for a series of sexual assaults,” said LAPD Detective Brent Hopkins.
Hopkins said Werner is suspected of preying on women using fake identities on dating apps.
“He would claim to be someone else, and then when they showed up, he didn’t quite match his profile on the dating site,” Hopkins said.
Shira Scott Astrof recalled connecting with Werner on a dating app.
I was just frozen, like frozen. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t fight back. I couldn’t do anything
Shira Scott Astrof, rape survivor
“I went on a dating app for the first time, and I thought I was messaging with an international soccer player named Sebastian Larsson,” Astrof said.
“I remember when I saw him, I was like, oh, OK, it must be off season, he’s a little out of shape,” she said.
“He would spin these fantastic, charming tales of his great wealth, his great charm, his wonderful lifestyle,” Hopkins said. “And then he would sexually assault them forcefully.”
Astrof said at one point during the date, she went to the bathroom.
“I came out, and then it was like so violent. He put on his sneakers, walked out. It was like nothing had happened,” Astrof said.
With a dislocated shoulder and many other injuries, she was taken to the hospital, where she endured a battery of tests in addition to dealing with the mental trauma of what just happened.
“Then the detectives came. They said, ‘We know who it is, but we need you to pick his mugshot out.’ And they showed me a bunch, and I immediately picked him out. And then they said, ‘Yeah, we know who that is,'” Astrof recalled.
And that was the moment that she realized the man who attacked her was not Sebastian Larsson, the famous soccer player.
“Like it’s a whole other level of violation,” she said.
At first, it appeared detectives were putting together a strong case against Werner, even revealing details to the media. Detectives claim to already have multiple accusers, including Astrof. In fact, Astrof says she was told she was the third the week she was attacked. At the time, she felt empowered knowing there were other accusers willing to testify against him, but to her dismay, it all began to unravel.
“And one by one, they all dropped out. And I was told that they got scared,” Astrof said.
Astrof would soon be the only one left, but she wasn’t backing down. In fact, Werner would ultimately be arrested and held for her case.
But there would be no trial. Instead, Astrof’s prosecutor, Sandra Jimenez, negotiated a plea deal: No contest for assault and sexual battery. Our cameras were there as the deal was announced, and Werner was sentenced to four years, but a suspended sentence, which meant no prison, just probation. Werner was free to go.
Outside, Astrof knew the only way to get real justice now was for other survivors to come out.
“You will be believed. Now you can come forward, and we can put him away, and I will be right beside you every step of the way. I promise,” Astrof said in a 2023 ABC7 report.
“I’m still sickened and saddened that this rapist is walking free right now.” A rape survivor is speaking out after her attacker was set free. It’s a case that exposes the flaws in how we prosecute sexual assaults.
Others were listening.
“After your story came out about his conviction, we were contacted by a woman who had, unfortunately, been victimized by him in Massachusetts many years ago,” Hopkins said.
I met with the victim Hopkins was talking about, identified under the pseudonym of Monica, in Boston, which happens to be where Werner grew up.
He’s about 6’2″, like 220. All of a sudden he had me in a headlock.
It was New Year’s Eve. They met at a bar. Monica says he convinced her to go to a party with him at the Ritz.
“We went to the Ritz Carlton on Avery Street. We walked in. He was like, ‘OK, let’s go up to the party.’ He opens the door. We walk in the room. There’s nobody there. Nobody, David,” she said.
That’s when he attacked her, and she couldn’t fight him off.
“All of a sudden, he had me in a headlock,” she said.
Monica says Werner is a former collegiate linebacker who played at nearby Wesleyan University.
After the alleged attack, Monica says Werner simply walked out of the room. There’s one other important part of Monica’s story. She says Werner got her pregnant that night, and she chose to keep the baby.
While Werner denied the rape and any connection to the child, a court-ordered DNA test concluded the child is his.
Back in L.A., there’s one other person that is important to this story. Remaining in shadow, a woman we’re calling Janet also saw Astrof’s story, and she says it brought back her own horrible, long buried memory from years ago.
“When his photograph came on screen, my body had a physical reaction,” she said.
Janet’s story is strikingly similar to Astrof’s. She says it happened just four months after Astrof’s encounter, also meeting on Tinder, and again, she says he was using a fake name, Seth Voss. She says she agreed to meet for lunch in the lobby of the Sherman Oaks Courtyard Marriott. Being in the middle of the day, she thought she would be safe.
“We were going to go grab some food, and he said, ‘Oh, I need to go grab something from my room. Let’s just go grab something from my room,’ and then the next thing I knew, he was on top of me,” she said.
Even though she didn’t immediately report the alleged attack to police, she did search for any information about Seth Voss. That’s when she allegedly discovered his real name was Matthew Werner. So after hearing police were searching for more victims, she reported her own account.
“When I came to the police station to give my statement, I brought a Ziploc bag with my cellphone, printed out screenshots of our communication, him sending me the hotel location, also a flash drive with the stuff from my phone pulled off,” Janet said.
Thanks to Astrof’s story, both Janet and Monica came forward and reported their alleged assaults to police. But as we follow each of these women through this very difficult process, one thing becomes clear. No matter how courageous they are, they have found themselves caught in a system that is wrought with problems.
We contacted Werner’s attorney and sent him a series of questions regarding all of these cases. He had no comment.
LAPD investigators continue to look for more alleged victims connected to Werner.
Part two: What happened to the accusers?
Part two of this story airs Tuesday on Eyewitness News at 4pm. We ask the question, what happened to all the other accusers connected to Astrof’s original case? Advocates say the answer paints a revealing picture of how our judicial system is broken.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, there is help available. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-HOPE. You can also chat with someone at rainn.org or text “Hope” to 64673, and you’ll be connected with a real person who’s trained to help.