Uber Driver's Trial for Sexual Assault of Passenger Begins in Tampa
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The trial began for an Uber driver who is accused of sexually assaulting one of his passengers, through a ploy using Cash App. Steeve Louis was arrested and charged with sexual battery in October 2023. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said he plotted to sexually assault an international student last summer. In court on Thursday, the state said this student, who was 20 years old at the time, was in the U. S.
to attend the University of South Florida. "She was completely by herself, worried, isolated," the prosecutor said. Prosecutors said, in August 2023, she called an Uber home from a restaurant, and Louis was the driver who picked her up. "He asked her questions that were personal," the prosecutor said. "He asked her about her status as a student.
He learned she was here on visa. " Prosecutors said the victim told Louis that her tuition was due soon, and she was discussing with her family how the payment would be made internationally. Prosecutors said Louis took the victim’s phone when he was dropping her off, downloaded Cash App and said he would help her set it up. "He installed the app, he set it up, he took her number, he gave her his, and he put his number in her phone, and he told her to call him if she needs anything," the prosecutor said. Officials said the victim started getting text messages from an unknown number claiming to be an agent with Cash App.
In court on Thursday, prosecutors showed text messages from this so-called agent, threatening to take the victim’s visa for allegedly using Louis’ information to set up Cash App. "In order for her to avoid losing her visa, he needs to be provided evidence," the prosecutor said. "Evidence that he describes as intimate, showing that she and Steeve Louis are in a relationship. " Prosecutors said the threatening messages continued, until the victim met up with Louis again, and they sent video evidence that painted the picture that the two of them were in a relationship. Prosecutors said it was at this point that the victim was coerced into performing multiple sexual acts with Louis.