A fake rideshare driver who preyed upon a 17-year-old girl in a brazen sexual attack in Melbourne has been jailed.

Faizan Abdullah, 29, sexually assaulted the teen in the early hours of February 7 last year after pretending to be her rideshare driver.

He kept his head down on Thursday morning as magistrate Donna Bakos described his offending as “outrageous” and sentenced him to 15 months behind bars.

“She trusted you were her Uber driver as you led her to believe. You instead violated her,” Ms Bakos said.

“Members of the public have the right to feel safe and be safe without the threat of being preyed upon by a sexual predator.”

Abdullah was criticised for telling police the woman had led him on.

The woman said she had struggled through her final year of school because of Abdullah’s actions and had withdrawn from friends and family.

She felt as if her innocence had been taken.

Ms Bakos commended her, saying her bravery and resilience shone through.

Abdullah, a PhD student, now faces deportation to Pakistan.

His lawyers had urged the magistrate to consider a sentence less than 12 months, which would allow him renew his student visa and avoid being sent home.

But Ms Bakos said a 15-month jail term was appropriate because the community needed to be deterred from committing similar offences.

Abdullah could be released from custody as early as Thursday after already serving 475 days in pre-sentence detention.

He’ll also be added to the sex offenders register for eight years after admitting possession of 69 child abuse images and videos.

– AAP