A South Florida Uber driver was arrested after allegedly making sexual comments and touching a 15-year-old girl during a ride she requested through the Uber Teens app.
“You were arrested for lewd and lascivious conduct on a child,” said Judge Mindy S. Glazer.
Jose Miguel Perez-Molina, 39, appeared Wednesday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. He faces charges of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child under 16, according to Sunny Isles Beach Police.
Authorities said the teen requested an Uber from a salon in Aventura to a friend’s home in Sunny Isles Beach. Perez-Molina, identified in the app as “Jose,” drove a Toyota Corolla matching the vehicle in question.
During the ride, he allegedly asked the girl about her boyfriend, called her “pretty,” and questioned her age. When she said she was 15, he reportedly said it was “a problem” because he was 39.
Police said he stopped in a plaza on Collins Avenue while the teen gave directions, then touched her knee, caressed her face, and touched a scab on her arm, telling her he could “take care of” her. She told investigators the contact was unwanted.
He also allegedly suggested parking somewhere so he could “teach [her] how to kiss,” despite the teen repeatedly declining. Fearing escalation, she recorded part of the encounter on her phone, which captured him discussing kissing her.
The teen ran from the vehicle in tears upon arrival and immediately told her parents, who contacted police. She later identified Perez-Molina “without hesitation” in a photo lineup. License plate readers also placed his vehicle at the scene.
Uber said:
“What this rider experienced is deeply disturbing… We take reports like this very seriously. We removed the driver’s access to the app as soon as this was reported.”
Perez-Molina was arrested and taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center