Victims of Colorado serial rapist share story after conviction: "What he did has just devastated me"

A Colorado man has been convicted on all counts in a sexual assault trial. The district attorney says David Kats, of Parker, used drugs, deception and manipulation to prey on women who trusted him.

Prosecutors say Kats, 56, drugged and sexually assaulted multiple women at his home over a period of nearly 10 years.

According to one of Kats' social media pages, he is a senior district manager for a manufacturing community and also worked as a high school football coach for decades.

CBS Colorado's Olivia Young spoke to two of his victims, who met Kats on a dating app.

"We're never going to get over it just because he is found guilty. We have to live with a lifetime of trauma," said Sherry Salazar.

Salazar met Kats online in 2016.

"I had gotten out of a relationship, and I met Dave pretty quick on the Plenty of Fish," Salazar said, referring to the dating app.

The pair started dating and were on and off for two years.

"Kind, nice, fun. But then usually a few months in, things change. Controlling, manipulative," Salazar said.

In May of 2018, the couple had been broken up for a couple of months but worked together at a multi-level marketing company. Kats messaged Salazar on her birthday asking to come over to talk and bring her a gift.

"He poured a glass of wine for me. I drank some of it. After a little bit, I got up and went to the restroom, and I felt a little dizzy, kind of a little off balance, and I came back and sat. He poured a little bit more wine in my cup," Salazar said.

Salazar doesn't remember anything after that. The next morning, she woke up naked on her bare mattress.

"I was really horrified when I woke up. I was freezing. It was about maybe like 50 degrees, and all my windows were open," Salazar said. "I asked him, did he drug me? And he said, 'Don't you ever ask me that again.'"

Salazar says Kats made her feel like the situation was her fault.

"I didn't tell anybody. For years, I was humiliated," Salazar said.

Two years later, Nichole Shupe met Kats on Match.com.

"He was a decent-looking guy, and he seemed nice," Shupe said.

They began seeing each other, and Shupe would often go to his house for drinks.

"And so he would mix those. And then we would have our drinks, watch TV," Shupe said.

She began experiencing blackouts.

"I was having memory, you know, issues at work, not being able to remember simple things," Shupe said. "You're wondering throughout the whole time, 'Am I going crazy? Why am I not remembering things?'"

She also noticed inexplicable injuries.

"I couldn't explain why or how my tailbone was broken, but I knew that I had woken up in an excruciating amount of pain," Shupe said.

In October of 2022, Shupe woke up during a night with Kats.

"That's when everything kind of started falling together for me," Shupe said.

When an ex-girlfriend of Kats' reached out, Shupe asked her a question.

"Do you ever recall a time where you were with him and you know you woke up and you don't remember anything that happened? And she said, 'Yes,' and I knew right then that it was, I knew he had drugged me," Shupe said.

That's when Shupe reported Kats to Parker police and posted about him on a Facebook group.

"He needs to stop doing what he's doing, because eventually he's going to kill somebody," Shupe said.

"I was looking at my iPad, and I saw a picture of him, and it's like all this electrical shock went through my body. And I was just like, 'I knew it. I knew it. I knew I wasn't crazy.' And that's how we met," Salazar said. "When I saw Shupe's post, all the dots connected, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I am not the only one.'"

When Salazar saw the post, she decided to come forward, too. From there, a two-year-long court process began.

"Emotionally, mentally, physically, we're just drained," Salazar said.

According to prosecutors, Parker police found multiple prescription drugs used to incapacitate women in Kats' home.

During the trial, Kats claimed the sexual encounters were consensual and denied any wrongdoing.

"The court was very, very hard. You're interrogated. Your whole life is spread out," Salazar said. "It was tough. I couldn't eat for days. I felt like I was going to throw up. I had to take a lot of time off work."

On Dec. 17, Kats was found guilty on all 17 counts relating to four women, including 12 counts of sexual assault.

"It blew my mind. They heard us. Yeah, they believed us," Salazar said. "I just want to cry still, because I couldn't stop crying."

Salazar and Shupe still carry trauma from what they experienced.

"What he did has just devastated me and my life," Shupe said.

But they've found each other.

"She saved me," Shupe said.

And the strength to speak up.

"You have to be brave, and you have to speak out. Because if you don't speak out, people are going to keep doing this. So you have to stand up for what's right," Shupe said.

Salazar and Shupe believe there are more victims of Kats out there and want them to come forward so their voices can be heard, too.

Kats will be sentenced April 23. According to the 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office, he faces anywhere from life in prison to probation.