Palm Beach County investigators are urging women to contact authorities if they had any interactions with a Florida man accused of meeting potential victims through online dating apps.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office issued the appeal on July 14, roughly five months after deputies responded to a sexual battery investigation at a Florida hospital. The woman in that case told investigators she had met the suspect, Stephen Hakim, on Hinge. Detectives later linked Hakim’s DNA to evidence collected from the woman, according to court documents.
Toxicology results showed several sleeping medications in samples taken from the woman’s blood and urine. She told deputies she had not knowingly taken those substances.
Hakim, a Delray Beach resident, was arrested July 8 and charged with sexual assault. He was released the following day after posting a $25,000 bond. Court records show he has pleaded not guilty.
Stephen Hakim, 27, of Delray Beach, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman he met on the dating app Hinge. (Courtesy of Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)
According to the woman’s account to deputies, she and Hakim first matched on Hinge and messaged through the app for about an hour. Their conversation later shifted to text messages and video calls, reports state.
The woman and Hakim, 27, agreed to meet later that same day with no “expectations or pretenses” and planned what deputies described in court filings as “a relaxed evening to talk.” She told investigators Hakim picked her up in his car around 11 p.m. to go to a bar. Instead, court records say, he drove her to his apartment.
The woman recalled being in Hakim’s black Tesla as he drove at speeds of “90 to 100 miles per hour,” according to court documents. She described his apartment as “very clean,” with little furniture and no television or pets. Once inside, she told deputies, they drank four beers and talked about subjects including work. Hakim then offered her a massage, she said. At that point, she became “super tired” and “couldn’t get up” before the alleged assault, according to her statement to investigators. Afterward, she said she was “very upset” and told Hakim he had raped her. Court records say she reported that Hakim responded by asking what she was talking about, behavior she described to deputies as “gaslighting.”
Hakim’s attorney provided a statement to multiple news outlets saying his client denies allegations that his actions were “unconsented.” The firm did not respond to a request for comment from INC News.
Experts say dating app users should watch for warning signs, including vague profiles and quick requests to move conversations off-platform. (Getty Images)
About 53 percent of adults ages 18 to 29 have used a dating app, a 2023 Pew Research report showed. Since the late 90’s, the online dating industry has “transformed” the way that some adults find potential matches, study researchers wrote. Dating apps aren’t inherently dangerous, said Megan Cutter, chief of victim services for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
Many relationships that begin on dating apps go on to be healthy and long lasting, she said. But perpetrators also use dating platforms to further criminal behavior, Cutter said.
Only about one in three victims report their sexual assault to law enforcement, she said.
Sometimes, that’s because abusers and perpetrators threaten to hurt victims and their families if they contact authorities, Cutter said.
One in 6 women in the United States has experienced attempted or completed rape in her lifetime, according to RAINN. Women ages 18 to 24 are at the most risk of being victims of sexual assault than any other age group. “We really want to think about how we stay safe on the internet” when using online dating services, Cutter said. Profiles that don’t have many details, links to social media, and aren’t “built out” should raise concern, she warned.
“Matches” who quickly want to exchange contact information and move conversations off the app also should spark wariness.
Palm Beach County authorities are seeking potential additional victims of Stephen Hakim, a Florida man charged with sexual assault. (Alicia Windzio/picture alliance via Getty Images; Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)
“Once they have your email or your phone number, they might use that to figure out where you live or find your social media.”
She warns users to post different photos on a dating profile than they would on personal social media. That’s because reverse image searches now quickly can link photos to other places they can be found online, such as on social media posts that could share personal information.
Removing the metadata from posted photos also decreases the risk of personal information being acquired, she said. Metadata is hidden information attached to digital files that can be accessed and may provide information, such as location and date. Online dating is “something millions of people use all the time,” Cutter said. “People find really lovely, healthy, successful relationships online. The risk is really when perpetrators misuse that tool and hurt people.”
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigators believe there “may be additional victims who have not yet come forward,” the agency wrote in a post on social media.
The Special Victims Unit is “asking for the public’s help in identifying anyone who may have had encounters with Stephen Hakim, who allegedly met victims through online dating platforms.”
