DELRAY BEACH, FL — Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested a 27-year-old man on a felony sexual battery charge, more than five months after a woman told detectives at Good Samaritan Hospital that a Hinge match had assaulted her at his apartment west of Delray Beach, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Stephen Hakim, whose listed home is on West Atlantic Avenue in the Delray Beach area of unincorporated Palm Beach County, was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail late on July 8, 2026, on one count of sexual battery on a victim 18 years of age or older by an offender 18 years of age or older without the use of physical force likely to cause serious personal injury. The charge is a second-degree felony under Florida Statute 794.011(5)(b), jail records show.
Hakim was released the following day after posting a $25,000 surety bond, according to jail records.
The case began on February 1, 2026, when detectives responded to Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach in reference to a sexual battery investigation, the affidavit states. A woman told investigators her friend, whom she identified as Hakim, had sexually battered her earlier that morning.
According to the affidavit, the woman said she and Hakim matched on the dating app Hinge on January 31, 2026, communicated on the app for about an hour before exchanging phone numbers, and then talked by text message and by FaceTime before meeting in person. The woman said she specifically told Hakim during the FaceTime conversation that she did not want any expectations or pressure and only wanted a relaxed evening to talk. She said Hakim agreed.
The woman told detectives Hakim picked her up at approximately 11 p.m. on January 31 driving a black Tesla, and that they initially discussed going to a bar but decided to spend the evening at his apartment instead, the affidavit states. She said Hakim drove approximately 90 to 100 miles per hour on the highway during the drive.
The two arrived at Hakim's third-floor apartment around midnight, the affidavit states. The woman told investigators they drank beer while talking, that Hakim told her she looked tense, and that he offered her a massage. She said Hakim led her to his bedroom, where she lay on the bed wearing leggings while he massaged her back.
The woman told detectives she became extremely tired due to not eating, exhaustion from work, alcohol and the massage, and that she dozed off, according to the affidavit. She said that when she woke, Hakim had pulled down her leggings and was touching her without her consent. She told investigators she told him to stop and that he responded it was just a massage, the affidavit states.
The affidavit states the woman dozed off a second time and that when she woke, Hakim was sexually assaulting her. She told detectives she screamed for Hakim to stop, that he placed his hand over her mouth, and that he pinned her down using his body weight while continuing the assault. She said Hakim repeatedly told her, "It's just a massage, it's okay," according to the affidavit.
After the assault, the woman told Hakim, "you raped me," the affidavit states. She said Hakim responded by asking what she was talking about and by acting as if nothing had happened. The woman said she refused Hakim's offer to drive her home, called an Uber, and went to Good Samaritan Hospital for a sexual assault examination.
Text messages detectives reviewed on the woman's phone showed that at 2:12 a.m. on February 1, 2026, she sent Hakim a message stating, "I'm literally bleeding. I'm filing a police report in the morning." At 2:40 a.m., she sent another message stating she was at the hospital for a rape kit and asking whether Hakim had used a condom, according to the affidavit. Detectives wrote that Hakim did not respond to those messages.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Crime Lab reported on April 23, 2026, that male DNA was found on the sexual assault kit, according to the affidavit. Detectives obtained a DNA warrant for Hakim, and on April 28, 2026, Detective Carlos Rojas and Detective Bove made contact with Hakim at his apartment, the affidavit states. Hakim declined to provide a statement without speaking to his attorney.
On June 23, 2026, detectives received results identifying Hakim's DNA in a vaginal swab from the sexual assault kit, according to the affidavit. A toxicology report received on July 1, 2026, showed the woman's system contained several sedative-class medications, including alprazolam, diazepam, nordiazepam, temazepam and oxazepam, along with THC metabolites, the affidavit states. The woman told detectives she had not taken oxazepam, temazepam or nordiazepam.
Detective Rojas signed the affidavit on July 6, 2026. Hakim was arrested two days later.
At his first appearance on July 9, 2026, a judge found probable cause for the charge, set bond at $25,000, and entered a no-contact order barring Hakim from contact with the woman, court records show. The court also ordered Hakim to have no weapons as a condition of release. His next scheduled court date is an initial case conference on September 17, 2026, in front of Circuit Judge Sherri L. Collins.
Court records list attorney Scott Skier as counsel for Hakim.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit is asking anyone with information about the case, including anyone who believes they may have had a similar encounter with Hakim, to contact Detective C. Rojas through PBSO Communications or at 561-688-4148.
The woman's identity is being withheld consistent with victim-protection provisions under Florida law.
The charge is an allegation. Hakim is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is now asking anyone with information about additional potential victims to contact the agency's Special Victims Unit, according to a PBSO press release.
Browse official arrest reports from Delray Beach police and Palm Beach County jail records.
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