Uber Sexual Abuser to be Held in Jail as Case Foregoes

Julio Alberto Schlaefli, 50, was arrested last week and charged with sexual battery.

Schlaefli’s case gained widespread attention from local media after the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) published a press release about his arrest on their Facebook account. 

On Monday, the State Attorney’s Office filed a motion of pretrial detention on Schlaefli and it was granted yesterday. 

The victim's friend requested an Uber for her and saw the GPS tracker on the Uber app was traveling towards her. Assuming she had mistakenly requested the ride for herself, she canceled the ride.  

The driver, Schlaefi, still showed up to the pick-up location after the ride was canceled. Schlaefi took advantage of Uber’s system to commit the sexual battery. 

GPD Detective Desiree Russano reported that Schlaefi admitted to the sexual battery. Schlaefi told her that he closed out of the Uber app after learning the ride had been canceled. 

Russano spoke more about the case to TV20.

Schlaefi was found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol in 2006.