WA man charged with sexually assaulting wheelchair-bound woman he met on Tinder
May 26, 2026, 6:00 PM
The "Tinder" app logo is seen amongst other dating apps on a mobile phone screen. (Photo: Leon Neal, Getty Images)
(Photo: Leon Neal, Getty Images)
A Washington man has been accused of sexually assaulting a handicapped woman he met on the popular dating app Tinder.
Matthew Walter Baird, 29, was charged with second-degree assault with sexual motivation, third-degree rape, and fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation related to an alleged assault in Mill Creek on May 30, 2025, according to court documents obtained by KOMO News.
Baird assaulted a wheelchair-bound woman who has spina bifida and was particularly vulnerable, according to court records.
DNA evidence linked Baird to the alleged assault, investigators say
The woman told investigators that she invited Baird over to her apartment after they had been communicating over Tinder for several weeks, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the Mill Creek Police Department. The victim noted the two were watching a movie together before the assault began.
The woman alleged that Baird repeatedly ignored her requests for him to stop, but he strangled her and forcefully carried out sexual acts on her despite her pleas for him to stop.
Investigators said she received medical treatment at Swedish Mill Creek Hospital, and a sexual assault nurse examiner documented her injuries, which included bruising and genital lacerations.
Law enforcement said the DNA collected during the examination was investigated by the Washington State Crime Lab. The DNA profile was “680 octillion times more likely” to include Baird than unrelated individuals selected at random from the U.S. population, investigators wrote, according to KOMO News.
Baird acknowledged that he met the victim on Tinder and had sex with her, but told detectives that the encounter was consensual, according to investigators.
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Another woman in Whatcom County also described what investigators labeled an abusive relationship with Baird, according to the probable cause affidavit. Detectives wrote that the woman alleged Baird had raped her, and Whatcom County authorities developed probable cause to arrest him for third-degree rape in an unrelated case.
Baird was already held in the Whatcom County Jail for that case when the Snohomish County charges were filed, according to court records obtained by KOMO News.
Prosecutors requested that bail be set at $75,000, citing what they believed to be a history of domestic violence allegations, failures to appear in court, and concerns over Baird posing a danger to the community.
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