A Texas doctor who pleaded guilty to a slew of sickening child sex crimes has been found dead days before he was set to be sentenced, officials said.
Matt Hipke, 62, was found dead in his home in Longview, Texas, on Tuesday, less than a week before he would learn his fate for sexually abusing multiple minor patients.
According to the Gregg County Sheriff's Office, Hipke was discovered by deputies and was pronounced dead at the scene. His cause of death is not known.
Officials said an investigation is underway to probe the doctor's death, and law enforcement do not believe there is any further danger to the community.
Hipke pleaded guilty on April 2 to six counts of aggravated assault of a child, and the doctor was accused of a number of child sex crimes dating back to 2016.
He had attacked several patients at his practice, the Adolescent Care Team, including allegations he had inappropriately touched three patients under 17 in examinations in his office.
The 62-year-old had his medical license revoked and practice closed, as he also faced at least five civil lawsuits on behalf of nearly a dozen children, according to the Longview News Journal.
He had been set for sentencing on Friday for charges related to attacks on two boys under 17, which he had pleaded guilty to after previously denying the allegations.
Matt Hipke, 62, a former top adolescence doctor in Texas, was found dead in his home on Tuesday days before he was set to be sentenced for a slew of sickening child sex crimes
Hipke was found dead in his home in Longview, Texas (first responders seen at the scene). Officials have not revealed a cause of death, but said investigators do not believe there is any further danger to the community
Hipke was first arrested in August 2020 and charged with two counts ofcontinuous sexual abuse of a child younger than 14.
He was released on a bond of over $1 million, before being re-arrested in June 2022 after being accused of sexually assaulting two boys during counselling sessions.
In his second indictment, Hipke was alleged to have inappropriately touched two boys on their genitals after ordering them to undress in front of him.
The former doctor had been set for trial in February before it was delayed until April 14 due to the significant evidence in the case, reports CBS19. He then pleaded guilty on April 2.
He also faced a number of civil lawsuits, with many repeating the allegation that Hipke refused to allow the parents of his patients to remain in the room while he carried out examinations.
In one allegation from 2016, Hipke was said to have told a parent this would make the child 'more likely to open up', court records said, and he went on to schedule multiple more visits with the child through the fall of 2016.
According to a civil lawsuit, once inside his office, he then made the child 'disrobe for no legitimate medical or diagnostic purpose' in these visits, while 'touching the child's genitalia.'
Hipke was first arrested in 2020 and charged with two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child younger than 14, and was re-arrested in 2022 on allegations heinappropriately touched two boys
He also faced at least five civil lawsuits representing almost a dozen children, with many telling the same story that he would refuse to allow parents to join their children in examinations before sexually abusing his minor patients
In another civil lawsuit filed when Hipke first faced charges in 2020, a plaintiff under 14-years-old sought $1 million from the doctor after several concerning sessions.
In these sessions, Hipke was accused of making the boy strip naked in his office before touching him and showing him pictures of male genitalia.
The boy added that Hipke would have him perform 'sketches' where he exposed himself, per KETK.
He said these sickening sessions left him 'rightened, humiliated, embarrassed, confused, distraught and suffered mental anguish, severe emotional distress, and psychological injury.'
In the wave of lawsuits against Hipke, five children from four families who were named as plaintiffs had received confidential settlements, per CBS19.
