Lyft Driver Sentenced for Sexually Assaulting Thirteen-Year-Old Passenger in Aurora

A Lyft driver accused of raping a thirteen-year-old passenger in Aurora last summer was recently sentenced to nine years in prison.

Shengfu Wu, 38, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and second-degree assault causing serious bodily injury, according to the Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office. As part of the plea deal, one charge of sexual assault on a child was dismissed.

A judge approved the plea deal on April 3, sentencing Wu to nine years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, followed by ten years of intensive supervised probation for sex offenders. Wu was taken into custody the same day.

The victim told police she was with friends at a park in the early hours of May 13, 2023, when a friend's older brother ordered a Lyft to take her home at around 1:40 a.m. Wu picked up the victim, but during the ride he began reaching into the back seat to touch the girl's upper thigh and asked to hold her hand, according to Wu's arrest affidavit.

Shortly after, Wu drove the car into a secluded parking lot and climbed into the back seat with the victim, the affidavit says. He then raped and performed oral sex on the victim, she told police.

When questioned later that morning, Wu claimed the encounter was consensual and that the victim had earlier said she was eighteen, according to the Aurora Police Department. Wu also said he gave the victim $40 after the assault, though he did not explain what the money was for.

Wu was identified via his Lyft account and arrested by APD the next day. He was released on a $50,000 bond in May but remanded into custody last week.

If the case had gone to trial, Wu could have faced up to sixteen years in prison for the second-degree assault charge and twelve years in prison for the sexual exploitation of a child charge, according to the district attorney's office. After pleading guilty, Wu received nine years — just short of the maximum ten-year prison sentence allowed under the conditions of the plea deal — and ten years of supervised probation.

"This plea agreement guarantees us a prison sentence and a decade of intensive sex-offender supervision," says Arapahoe County DA spokesperson Eric Ross.

Wu will be eligible for parole beginning in August 2028, according to the Department of Corrections' website.

A Lyft spokesperson says the company permanently banned Wu from its platform upon learning of the incident. “The allegations against this driver are reprehensible and have no place in the Lyft community or our society," the spokesperson said in a statement.

At the time of his arrest, police said they believed Wu may have sexually assaulted other passengers who did not report the encounters to law enforcement because of the brazen nature of his crime. Wu has no prior criminal history in Colorado, according to public records.

No additional victims have come forward, but police urge anyone who believes they were victimized by Wu to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.