Former taxi driver convicted of sexually assaulting passenger in West Vancouver

A former taxi driver on B.C.'s North Shore has been convicted of sexual assault after assaulting a passenger in his cab in 2019. (CBC - image credit)

A former taxi driver has been convicted of sexual assault after targeting a passenger inside his cab in West Vancouver, B.C., more than two years ago.

Deepak Sharma, who is from Abbotsford, B.C., was found guilty in North Vancouver provincial court. Judge Patricia Bond delivered her verdict on June 18 after a trial.

Sharma was charged after being accused of assaulting a customer in the early morning of New Year's Day in 2019.

According to West Vancouver police, Sharma grabbed his customer in the crotch. He then took the victim's hand and forced it on his own crotch, which had been exposed through an open zipper.

The victim reported the incident to police.

Sharma, then 60, was arrested on Jan. 17, 2019. He surrendered his taxi permit.

Sharma was the on-and-off president of the Abbotsford Hindu temple from 2008 to 2012, and again for several months in 2017.

He will next appear in court on June 29 to have a date set for his sentencing.