Lawsuit filed against Longview doctor

GREGG COUNTY — A $1 million lawsuit was filed against a former Longview doctor on behalf of a boy who says he was sexually abused by him. According to our news partner KETK, Matt E. Hipke was arrested in August on two counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14 and he was released on a $1 million bond. The current lawsuit was filed in the Gregg County Court by the mother of the victim. The guardian is seeking damages because her son was “sexually assaulted, molested and or sexually abused” by Hipke during his medical visits. The lawsuit states that the victim was younger than 14 when he was sexually abused. The boy was also Hipke’s patient from October 2018 until June 2020.

Hipke was an internal medicine specialist whose practiced adolescent medicine as part of the Adolescent Care Team in Longview. The Texas Medical Board suspended Hipke’s medical license due to allegations of him sexually abusing three of his male patients under the age of 17. The former physician treated only ‘teens and tweens’ and focused on health and life counselling.

However, the lawsuit documents stated that he “is not, and has never been, a licensed psychiatrist, counselor or therapist.” The lawsuit also blamed Hipke of assault and battery, negligence, and continuous abuse of a young child or children. Hipke’s conduct had been questioned before this lawsuit. He was reported to the Texas Medical Board in 2018 related to him sexually abusing minors, and another report was made in August 2020.