Girl, 14, sexually battered by Uber driver in Osceola County, deputies say

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — An Uber driver sexually battered a 14-year-old passenger in his car, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office deputies said.

The victim told deputies that she used her Uber app Monday and asked to be picked up from her boyfriend’s house in Kissimmee.

The driver, David Pena-Melo, 27, told the teenager to sit in the front seat where he began to make sexual advances and sexually battered her, deputies said.

Deputies said he drove the victim past her destination and to the side of the road near a wooded area, where they said he forced her to perform a sex act.

The victim reported the incident Wednesday and Pena-Melo was arrested Thursday.

Deputies said they were able to track him down because of the vehicle information in the victim’s app.

Pena-Melo told deputies he thought the victim was 19 years old, and claimed that the sexual act was consensual.

“He was very cooperative and he knew exactly why we were there,” said Capt. Jacob Ruiz of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. “It is very disturbing and the public needs to know that as convenient as these new apps and these new services are, that you still need to be very careful.

He was booked into the Osceola County Jail on a charge of sexual battery of a minor.

Uber released a statement saying that the driver has been banned from the company.

Pena-Melo worked for Uber for six months.

Deputies said he has a criminal history in Massachusetts, but it wasn’t for sex crimes.

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