Charges: Metro Transit Bus Driver Demanded Sex From A Minor
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Metro Transit bus driver is facing felony charges for sexually harassing a minor on the bus.
Hennepin County attorneys charged 32-year-old Mahmud Dabshir Aden with 1 count of hiring or agreeing to hire a 16 to 17-year-old.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim -- a pregnant 16-year-old -- told Metro Transit Police officers that Aden engaged in an "escalating series of inappropriate behavior" in the spring of 2015. First, the charges say Aden asked her out. When she said no, he gave her his phone number.
Then in an incident about three months ago, Aden asked the victim why she hadn't called him, and if she was still with her boyfriend. She told him that yes, she was still with the father of her child.
In the final incident on Monday, Oct. 5 at around 10 p.m., the victim boarded a bus that Aden was driving near the 46th Street light rail station. When she pulled the cord indicating she needed to get off, Aden didn't stop the bus and kept driving until his layover at 34th Avenue and Highway 62.
According to the criminal complaint, he then told the victim he would give her $100 and a phone if she performed oral sex on him. When she refused and asked him to stop, Aden turned off all the lights on the bus and exposed himself to the victim. When she refused again, prosecutors say Aden made a lewd, sexual comment to the victim.
After she repeatedly told him no, the charges say Aden finally turned the lights back on and drove her to her stop, where her sister picked her up.
Prosecutors say a video from the route obtained by Metro Transit Police corroborated the victim's story, and that Aden admitted to hugging the victim.
In response to the incident, a Metro Transit spokesperson said:
"Metro Transit sets a high standard for behavior from its employees. The behavior described is obviously not what we expect, nor are accustomed to, from Metro Transit operators. When we learned of this incident, we took immediate action to address the issue."
If convicted, Aden could face up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.