Man, 56, suspected of sexually assaulting man in Palm Springs to stand trial

A 56-year-old man suspected of sexually assaulting a man he met through an online dating app must stand trial on additional felony charges, a judge ruled today.

Hakan Isik of Desert Hot Springs was charged last year with two felony counts of sodomy with victim intoxication/under anesthesia, and one felony count each of sexual penetration by means of force and cruelty to an adult, according to court records. He also faces four misdemeanor counts of battery.

At the end of a preliminary hearing Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, a Riverside County Superior Court Judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial for Isik on all charges, according to Riverside County District Attorney's office spokesperson John Hall. The judge additionally held Isik to answer on four additional charges -- one felony count each of sodomy with victim intoxication/under anesthesia and sodomy by force/duress, and one misdemeanor count each of battery and false imprisonment of an elder or dependent adult.

A post-preliminary hearing arraignment was set for Feb. 16.   

Isik's arrest stemmed from a sexual assault case in January last year which prompted an investigation with additional people and more information becoming available, according to the Palm Springs Police Department.   

The alleged victim, whose age was not provided, posted a statement online in April last year about being drugged and sexually assaulted in Palm Springs Jan. 28, 2023.

"I asked him repeatedly to stop and repeatedly to leave. But he continued to add drugs and assault me sexually and physically,'' the man wrote. "I was very weak, in trauma, and both physically and emotionally unable to defend myself. ... I was hospitalized and the injuries were extensive, with first- and third-degree burns on my right hip and buttocks and numerous lacerations and torn skin on my head, arms, torso, legs, feet, armpits and face."  

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Investigators subsequently pursued "available leads and conducted multiple interviews with individuals who came forward in response to the victim's online account,'' police said in a statement

Isik remains held at the John J. Benoit Detention Center on a $1 million bail bond.

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