After hourlong Uber ride ferried SC preteen to rapist's house, families demand child safeguards (2024)

YORK— After grooming a 12-year-old York County girl on social media, a since-convicted North Carolina man had Uber bring her and a friend across the state line to his house so he could rape her, a new lawsuit alleges.

Attorneys for the girls' families said the California-based ride-hailing companylacks needed safeguards for children, leaving them at risk of being trafficked — and in this case, facilitated the rape of a preteen.

They're suing Uber to force the company to overhaul its practices and reveal how often its drivers may have aided predators while also seeking damages for the families.

The company disagreed with the characterization.

"We take our role helping to combat human trafficking seriously and have spent years investing in prevention efforts," an Uber spokesperson said in an emailed statement to The Post and Courier.

Between the complaint filed July 24 in York County court and a Zoom press conference, lawyers laid out a number of times they believe an Uber driver could have altered the course of what happened.

He could have questioned the two girls, who looked far too young to travel unaccompanied with a stranger, when they first entered his car.

He could have canceled the pickup when one mentioned how young they were before the hourlong car ride.

Instead of driving off after they exited his car, he could have made sure they were meeting their dad instead of an 18-year-old one of them met online.

Tracey Cowan, an attorney for the girls, said the driver did none of those things because Uber "prioritized profits over safety."

The company contended it has taken steps to protect children, "including providing every driver with educational resources on how to identify the signs of human trafficking and report suspected cases."

From Facebook friend to Uber-driven victim

The complaint details the encounter and what preceded it, which started when Fayvion Jarrod Williams— then 18— saw the 12-year-old's profile on Facebook.

He sent her a friend request. She accepted.

They corresponded for a few weeks through Facebook Messenger — interactions her attorneys characterized as grooming.

Then, on Nov. 24, he started pressuring her to come to his house and to bring her friend, who was 13. While the messages indicated he wanted sex, the girl "was enamored by Williams and the attention he was providing her" and "saw their chats as a game," the lawsuit said.

She agreed without grasping the seriousness of the situation, according to the lawsuit.

The next day, Williams arranged the Uber.

The lawsuit catalogs his instructions to hide the rendezvous: The girls were to walk to a pickup location, a nearby park, instead of the Uber arriving at one of their homes; one girl's cellphone was tracked by her mom to keep tabs on her, so she had to leave the phone at home; if anyone asked, Williams was their dad.

The Uber took them an hour away to Williams' house in Gaston County, N.C.

First they smoked pot, then he tried to convince the girls to have sex with him. While the friend managed to spurn Williams' advances, the 12-year-old "was scared to tell Williams no." He took her to his room and raped her, capturing video of the encounter with his cellphone.

Afterward, he had them walk down the street to a new pickup location. Another Uber driver picked them up. The girls discussed the rape and orchestrated stories in the back seat, the lawsuit alleged, and the driver never questioned them about what happened.

They were dropped off at the park, where the friend's mother confronted the driver. He shared Williams' first name and showed his Uber profile, the lawsuit alleged, then drove off as the mom tried to quiz him about what happened, the lawsuit said.

The next day, Williams sent a video of the rape to both girls, which was shared with their parents, then law enforcement.

Williams, now 19, pleaded guilty earlier this month to statutory rape and second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor in North Carolina. He was sentenced to six to eight years in prison and will be eligible for release after five.

The ordeal upended the families' lives.

Both girls moved to homeschooling, and the 12-year-old's father quit his job to stay home with his daughter while she tries to cope with the trauma, Cowan said.

"They've been completely devastated," she said.

In a statement, an Uber spokesperson acknowledged that "the details of this incident are horrific."

Attorneys' road map to Uber's problems, how to fix them

Human trafficking persists well into the 21st century as a multibillion-dollar industry. And to those intent on smuggling people, ride-hailing services are a growing means of conveyance.

Uber and other such services combine to form the second-largest means of transporting human-trafficking victims— second only to the traffickers' own vehicles.

In an Oct. 25, 2022 public service announcement, the FBI ticked through troubling examples of ride-hailing services being involved in human trafficking:

• A ride-hailing service driver transporting a 16-year-old boy through Texas in April 2022 gave him something to drink. The teen awoke in a residence 20 miles in the opposite direction of his intended destination. The driver was later arrested.
• A Colorado man convinced a child in California he met online to first send inappropriate images of herself, then to get into a ride-hailing vehicle with him so they could go to an airport and fly to D.C. The abduction happened in February 2021. The man was captured and the child rescued during a layover.
• In February 2022, a father got his ride-hailing service driver to stop at a flower stand, which he browsed while his 7-year-old remained in the car. The driver left with the boy still inside. The parents were able to find the driver and get their son back. The driver was later charged.

"It's easier than ever for traffickers to transport and to essentially get their trafficking victim from one place to another," Cowan said. "So, it really is these apps that are making trafficking as easy as hitting a few buttons on an app to order up a victim to someone's house."

Uber said it understands the risks of ride-hailing and works with police and prosecutors to target traffickers.

"Our work to help shine a light on human trafficking is never done, and we remain committed to being part of the solution," a spokesperson said.

To that end, the company connects drivers with resources on human trafficking, including ways to report suspected trafficking.

The omnipresent ride-hailing company also prohibits unaccompanied riders who are younger than 18 from the platform — even if the person arranging the ride is 18 or older.

There is an exception for Uber Teens, a service the company offers in select cities that requires parental permission and sends alerts to a parent's phone to let them know the moment a ride is arranged, and when pickup and drop-off happen. Uber Teens is available in Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Greenville and Myrtle Beach. However, it's not available in the Rock Hill or Gastonia, N.C., areas where the events central to this lawsuit unfolded.

The prohibition on unaccompanied minors was not followed with these two victims; however, the company's online guidance to drivers seems optional. Uber's guidance says drivers "can decline the trip" if the rider looks too young, and drivers "may confirm that a parent or guardian is traveling with them."

The lawsuit notes this problem and highlights another: If a driver cancels pickup — even in the case of an unaccompanied minor —they lose their fare, regardless of the time spent and miles driven to get to the pickup spot.

In other words, the lawsuit said, the company gives an incentive to those who ignore the policy and don't report potential cases of trafficking.

Ending that incentive and making clear the policy is not optional will curtail trafficking, the lawyers argue.

Also optional for drivers, the lawsuit said, is training on human trafficking.

"Uber’s sole educational resource on human trafficking is a nineteen (19) minute video that was released in 2021," according to the filing.

The video, it said, "offers no specific instructions or guidelines for Uber drivers who feel that their passenger may be a victim of trafficking," and even advises those who witness the signs of trafficking not to intervene.

Cowan said common-sense solutions can fix these problems.

"Until Uber makes the changes that many of us have been calling for for years ... I would absolutely not allow my children to ride in an Uber," Cowan said.

And shedoubted company executives would let their children take an Uber, either, without first addressing these shortcomings.

"Uber has the means to make the changes to make everyone safe and is choosing not to because it's putting profits over people," Cowan said.

If you think you have information on a trafficking situation, call the 24-hour National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free hotline at 888-373-7888, text 233733 or visit humantraffickinghotline.org/chat. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.