Case moving forward against Uber driver accused of showing teen sexually explicit image

PENN HILLS, Pa. — The case against an Uber driver is moving forward after police say he showed his teenage passenger a nude photo of himself.

>>> Uber driver accused of showing teen sexually explicit image

The 16-year-old girl who was in the Uber that night was ready to testify against the driver on Monday.

Her mom told Channel 11′s Gabriella DeLuca that she still is traumatized by the night he allegedly showed her the photos.

Patrick Phipps kept walking and ignored our questions as he walked out of his hearing in Penn Hills.

Phipps was driving for Uber, and picking the teen up, and according to investigators — he began asking the girl sexual questions and then showed her a picture of himself.

Phipps and his attorney decided to waive Monday’s preliminary hearing.

The teen girl’s mother wanted her daughter to have the chance to testify against Phipps.

“She should be heard, she has a right to be heard being that he did this to her,” she said.

But because the hearing was waived — she will have to wait for the trial.

“Instantly she got nervous. She got scared and said, ‘Mom, I’m scared, I’m scared,’ I told her, ‘You’re allowed to be scared, but also he didn’t have the right to do what he did to you,’” her mother said.

Since the incident in the Uber, the mom told us her daughter has quit her job, for fear that Phipps could find her.

“She was a lucky one. There’s people who get put in these situations and their families never see them again, and they get harmed. And I’m thankful for my daughter not being harmed,” her mother said.

The mother told us she is working with an attorney to file a civil suit against Uber.

An Uber spokesperson told us they removed his access from the app.

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