Man Who Posed as Uber Driver to Kidnap and Rape Women Sentenced to 41 Years in Prison

A 28-year-old man from Cleveland, Chistian Burks, was sentenced to 41 years in prison after posing as an Uber driver to kidnap and then rape multiple women. As Cleveland.com previously reported, Burks would pose as an Uber driver in order to abduct women standing outside of busy restaurants in the city’s Warehouse District. Burks was previously facing a maximum sentence of 103 years, however he pleaded guilty to 5 counts of rape, 4 counts of kidnapping, 2 counts of abduction, and 1 count of theft and domestic violence.

These assaults were carried out from October 2017 through May 2020. “There is not one thing that the victims did where they bear responsibility for what happened to them,” the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge, Joan Synenberg, said upon delivering the sentence. “I hope they can free themselves of any space you occupy in their heads.” She described Burks’ targeted attacks as “cunning, ruthless.” Two of the women who said they believed Burks to be an Uber driver, only for them to end up being raped by him. Both of the women delivered statements in court, letting him know what he put them through. “I know there are many more men, and many more people, who have bad intentions that I cannot save them from,” one of the women spoke while admitting she didn’t even want to be in the same room as him. “But I can stand up here and tell you today that the world is a less safe and more dangerous place for all of these young women when this man is allowed freedom.” she said.

The other woman, who did not want to me named either to protect her identity, told Burks, “I hope you are haunted by my limp body lying in the backseat of your car… I hope you never live another day without the soul-crushing weight of me on your mind.”

Burks said an apology to the women, and also told the judge that he took full responsibility for his actions. He also issued an apology to his four children, and the rest of his family members. He said that he was high on drugs when the attacks occurred, and did not remember the full details of what happened.