South Carolina Parents Sue Uber After Teens Taken To N.C. And Raped
YORK COUNTY – A new major lawsuit has been filed in York County exposing Uber’s role in child sex trafficking. Two families are suing the rideshare company after their teenage daughters driven from their homes in South Carolina to a sexual predators home an hour away in North Carolina.
According to their lawyers, two teenage girls, just 12 and 13 years old, were lured to a mans home in November of last year. Lawyers for the families say the man used an Uber to bring the girls from Rock Hill to his home in Gastonia. The teens lawyer, Tracey Cowan, says that the girls told their driver they were underage.
“Still,” said Cowan, “he drove them an hour away across state lines to a child rapist house in North Carolina.”
Cowan says the girls were given drugs and the 12 year old was raped. She says the predator later shared a video of the assault.
“When he was done, he simply ordered another Uber,” said Cowan. “That second Uber driver drove the girls back home again without raising any concerns.”
19 year old Fayvion Williams was arrested five days after the incident and charged with statutory rape of a child. He was released from jail on July 17th.
In march of this year, WCCB told you about a separate incident involving Uber and sex trafficking. A man sent a minor out to Rowan County through a ride share app to take part in sex work. For that story, click here.
Cowan’s claims that Uber has known that sex trafficking has been happening on its platform for years.
“It’s been warned by the FBI, it’s been warned by members of Congress,” said Cowan.
Last year, senators sent letters to the CEO’s of Uber and Lyft, demanding transparency over the companies’ efforts to prevent human trafficking. The families and their legal team is working for Uber to require anti-trafficking training for all drivers and instill a zero tolerance policy for transporting unaccompanied minors.
“As it is currently, Uber’s system actually incentivizes drivers to transport minors suspected minors,” said Cowan, “even if they believe them to be underage because they’re actually penalized if they cancel rides.”
Uber shared a statement with WCCB.
“The details of this incident are horrific. We take our role helping to combat human trafficking seriously and have spent years investing in prevention efforts, including providing every driver with educational resources on how to identify the signs of human trafficking and report suspected cases.
“We are committed to partnering with experts to help combat this issue, and our Global Investigations team works hand in hand with law enforcement to help bring suspected traffickers to justice. In addition, we’ve partnered with state Attorneys General to develop digital content to help drive awareness even further. Our work to help shine a light on human trafficking is never done, and we remain committed to being part of the solution.”
– Uber Spokesperson
The lawsuit claims that Uber has resisted mandatory sex trafficking training, and instead offers a training video on a volunteer basis.
