A child rapist managed to transport a 12-year-old and 13-year-old girl to his home in November using Uber, according to a new lawsuit filed against the company in South Carolina.
Fayvion Williams used the rideshare app to have the girls brought to his home to have sex with them on November 25, the lawsuit alleges. He’d convinced them to meet up at his house after weeks of messaging them on Facebook.
In one of the messages, the man allegedly asked if the minor was “down to try a 3 sum.” The girls headed to the man’s home in the early afternoon and told a parent that they would be going to a nearby park, the lawsuit states.
The girls said that the Uber driver did not ask them how old they were and allowed them to get in the car. The driver asked if the person who requested the ride was their father and one of them nodded in response.
The girls crossed state lines from South Carolina to North Carolina to go to the man’s home during the hour-long journey.
Upon arriving at the location, Williams took the girls into the backyard and asked them to smoke a marijuana cigarette before bringing them inside. The man asked the girls if they wanted to have sex. One of the children told him she did not want to “do anything” with him.
The man then allegedly turned his focus to the other girl, who went into his room with him. According to the lawsuit, Williams then vaginally raped the child, which he video-recorded.
After the incident, the man ordered the girls an Uber and told them to walk down the street to meet the driver.
Williams was later arrested and pleaded guilty to charges and given a six to eight-year sentence, according to WBTV.
The lawsuit alleges that Uber is complicit in child sex trafficking. Children are allowed to ride in an Uber with a teen account if they are at least 13 years old and have permission from a parent or legal guardian.
The parents of the girls, who are not related, are requesting that the company make changes to its safety policies, including adding cameras to cars and eliminating policies that penalize drivers for refusing to drive unaccompanied minors, among others.
“Let’s be clear, this is a horrific tragic situation that has upended the lives of these families, all made possible by Uber because of their negligence and their steadfast prioritization of profits over safety,” Tracey B Cowan, one of the attorneys representing the families, said in a statement.
“As a mother, it terrifies me to know that I could send my kids out to play and an Uber driver might deliver them to a predator just to make a few dollars.”
The families are also seeking monetary compensation.
The Independent has reached out to Uber for comment.
