In April 2019, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for the rape of a sleeping woman as part of a WhatsApp-based "sexual conquest game".

Worcestershire County Cricket Club suspended Hepburn on full pay,[6] but did not renew his contract when it expired at the end of September 2018.

The court also found that the prosecutor Ms Moore QC's questions relating to Hepburn's promiscuity were correctly objected to, but did not undermine the conviction.

The court stated:Even if one starts from the premise that the complainant was awake at the outset, the jury could be sure she did not appreciate that it was the appellant with whom she was having sex at the beginning, and that he had no genuine and reasonable belief that she was consenting, but that things might have changed the longer the sexual contact went on without any outward demonstration of a lack of consent (accepted by the complainant) it is at least possible that by the time vaginal intercourse started the jury's conclusion about the appellant's belief and whether it was reasonable was different.

—Lord Chief Justice Burnett[17]As both arguments in support of an unsafe verdict finding failed, Hepburn's appeal against conviction was dismissed.

As well as imposing the ban, the CDC ruled he must undergo appropriate professional treatment for the issues leading to his criminal conviction and do appropriate training and education courses before resuming any cricket-related activity.