Uber driver charged over rape of teen
AN Uber driver has been charged with the rape of a teenager after dropping her friends off in Sydney’s beachside eastern suburbs.
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AN Uber driver has been charged with the rape of a teenager after dropping her friends off in Sydney’s beachside eastern suburbs.
The 37-year-old driver picked up the 17-year-old and two friends in the city about 1.30am on Sunday, NSW Police said in a statement on Tuesday. Her friends were dropped off at Bondi and the girl remained alone in the vehicle because she was going to another address in North Bondi.
Police allege the driver sexually assaulted the girl.
“It’s a very traumatic incident but she has the support of family and police are ensuring she is looked after,” Assistant Commissioner Mark Walton told reporters today.
“Any sexual assault is a very distressing situation for any person. It is alleged she was asleep at the time of the incident.”
Mr Walton warned any taxi or ride-share driver contemplating a similar attack that their movements were being monitored by technology such as CCTV and trip tracking.
“If you are someone who engages in this predatory behaviour, we are going to catch you,” he said.
“We get very cooperative support from the ride-share providers and taxi industry who help us with investigations every day — be that sexual assaults or any other offence.”
The man was arrested on Monday afternoon and charged with sexual intercourse without consent and granted conditional bail to appear in Liverpool Local Court on October 25.
“This is deeply upsetting,” an Uber spokeswoman told AAP on Tuesday.
“As soon as we became aware of this report we immediately removed this driver’s access to the app.”
As part of his bail conditions, the man is not allowed to work as a ride-share driver.
Originally published as Uber driver charged over rape of teen