Former Toronto Uber driver sentenced to 5 years in prison for sexual assault of 3 female riders

A former Uber driver in the Toronto area has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years behind bars in connection with three separate sexual assaults of women in his vehicle.

The sentence was handed down to 38-year-old Taneem Aziz by Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy in a downtown Toronto courtroom on Wednesday. Aziz was found guilty on three counts of sexual assault following a trial last spring.

Each of the assaults, carried out in separate instances between 2018 and 2021, were against young women attempting to travel home late at night, Molloy told the court.

“The impacts on the three women who were assaulted were significant,” the judge said. “They were vulnerable, alone at night.”

In at least two instances, Molloy found that Aziz had not been contracted as a driver for the women through the Uber application, but “lured” the women into his vehicle, offering his services independently of the app.

“He took advantage of the trust placed in him [and] abused that trust by assaulting his passengers,” the judge told the court.

All three of the women were held against their will for varying lengths of time following the offences, Molloy told the court. The longest period saw a victim trapped in his car, “crying, screaming, and banging on the windows,” for four hours before Aziz agreed to let her out of the vehicle on the condition she pay him $50. She paid him and was released.

Aziz was arrested and charged in connection with two of the incidents in April 2019.

In statements submitted to the court, the victims, identified only as ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and C’’ in the proceedings, detailed the emotional distress that followed the attacks, including night terrors and high anxiety. One of the women, who was assaulted on her way home from a company party, told the court she had to take time off work following the assault, and that, for several years, she feared attending work-related events.

The conviction is Aziz’s first, Molloy noted. His lack of a criminal record was considered as a factor in his sentencing. The judge also noted the number of "glowing" letters penned by family and friends of Aziz, who is married with three children.

“I accept that a lengthy prison sentence would deprive these children of a relationship with their father during a crucial period of their childhood,” Molloy read. “While it is terrible that his children will suffer for his crimes,  these offences are very serious and the complainants have suffered greatly and will continue to suffer greatly."

Aziz was handcuffed following Molloy's decision, offering a quick nod to supporters before being led from the courtroom into federal custody. As part of his sentence, he must submit a sample of DNA to the court and refrain from contacting any of the victims.