DELAWARE COUNTY COURTS

Montco Uber driver charged with rape of woman at Villanova University heads to trial in January

Authorities allege Mirvan Dinler, of Washington Court, Trappe Borough, raped a student in her dormitory in September 2024

Mirvan Dinler, 26, of Trappe. (Courtesy Delaware County District Attorney’s Office)

Authorities allege Mirvan Dinler, of Washington Court, Trappe Borough, raped a student in her dormitory in September 2024

  • Courts

An Uber driver from Trappe Borough who allegedly raped a woman at Villanova University in Delaware County in September 2024 will head to trial in the new year in Delaware County Common Pleas Court.

Mirvan Dinler, 27, of the 200 block of Washington Court, was charged Sept. 13, 2024 by Delaware County and Radnor detectives with rape, rape of a substantially impaired person, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a substantially impaired person, sexual assault, and indecent assault without consent, per court documents.

Dinler was also charged with misdemeanor counts of indecent assault on a person who is substantially impaired, but Assistant District Attorney Danielle Gallaher withdrew the count and added a new count of aggravated indecent assault without consent, per The Reporter.

According to The Delaware County Daily Times, the victim, 21, had reportedly been raped in a residence hall of the university in Radnor Township.

Detectives met with the victim, who reported she had five alcoholic drinks on an empty stomach before going out to celebrate a birthday, police said. She felt ill on the way to a Philadelphia nightclub and she decided to not go into the club, instead taking an Uber back to the university, driven by Dinler, authorities allege.

Per the report, an Uber receipt shows a pickup by “Mirvan” at 10:19 pm. on the 900 block of Watts Street and a drop off at 11:08 p.m.

The victim told police Dinler followed her to her residence in Hovnanian Hall, where he entered her room and raped her, according to the article.

According to the report, detectives reviewed campus security footage that showed the woman being escorted toward Hovnanian Hall by a man at 11:09 to 11:10 p.m. that night.

Read more on the incident here.

“I don’t remember the drive at all,” the victim told Gallaher, according to The Reporter. “…I woke up in my dorm room. I didn’t really know where I was. I recognized that I was in my dorm room after a few moments because I have this specific light that I use and that was on in my dorm room, and I realized there was this random man who I had never seen on top of me.”

Dinler is free on 10% of $250,000 cash bail, posted Oct. 4. A trial is scheduled for Jan. 26, 2026 before Common Pleas Judge Mary Alice Brennan. He is represented by Philadelphia defense attorney Shaka Mzee Johnson.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.



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Tony Di Domizio

Tony Di Domizio is the Managing Editor of NorthPennNow, PerkValleyNow, and CentralBucksNow. Email him at [email protected].

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