An Uber driver who was convicted of sexually assaulting a customer in her Dallas home claimed he would go on a hunger strike after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison Monday.

Talal Ali Chammout, a former Uber driver, was convicted of sexually assaulting a female passenger. (Dallas County jail )

"I don't see how a passionate kiss turned into assault," Talal Ali Chammout loudly told the judge while bailiffs led him from the courtroom Monday.

Chammout claimed he had consensual sex with a 27-year-old customer after driving her home.

But a Dallas County jury convicted the 59-year-old last week for the assault, and State District Judge Gracie Lewis determined his sentence Monday.

The assault occurred July 25, 2015, after Chammout picked the woman up in Oak Lawn and drove her to her west Oak Cliff home

The woman, who had been drinking that day, doesn't remember details of the assault but said she never consented to have sex with Chammout. She remembers he followed her into her home and she asked him to leave.

When she regained consciousness, the woman had scrapes on her knees and a bump on the back of her head, police records show.

After Chammout's arrest, Uber admitted he was mistakenly allowed to drive for the company. Chammout, who had served time in federal prison on a weapons charge, was using a fake Dallas city driving permit at the time of the incident.

The woman wept after Chammout was convicted Friday but opted to stay out of the courtroom Monday.

Prosecutor Trey Stock said the woman wanted to move on after waiting nearly three years for the case to go to trial.

He said he hopes the jury's verdict and the judge's sentence sends a message encouraging victims of sexual assault to come forward.

"At least we can get people some help," Stock said.

During the sentencing hearing, a woman testified that in May 2015, Chammout put his hands on the back of her thighs as she climbed into his SUV during an Uber ride.

She recalled Chammout staring at her in the rear view mirror. She said he "smiled with a creepy smile the entire drive."

"I just thought, 'What a creep. What a strange encounter,'" she testified.

When she started getting out of the SUV to follow her friends and husband, Chammout "closed the door on my arm and said, 'You're staying, right?'"

She and her friends tried to figure out how to report the incident to Uber, which she had not used before.

The woman contacted police after she saw Chammout had been arrested on a sexual assault charge. She wanted police to know he had behaved strangely toward women before the assault.

"I just thought, 'Surely, she needs support,'" the woman said of the sexual assault victim.

The woman attacked in July 2015 later filed a lawsuit against Chammout, his limousine company and Uber. She filed a request to dismiss the case that December, court records show.

Defense attorney Heather Barbieri argued before the conviction that the woman wasn't credible because she had filed the lawsuit within weeks of the assault.

"There's a motive" for the woman to come forward in the criminal case, attorney Heather Barbieri said.

But Stock countered that the lawsuit was settled outside of court years ago and that there is a non-disclosure agreement. The woman would have no financial gain for moving ahead with the criminal case.

Nondisclosure agreements like the one in Chammout's case helped Uber keep rape and sexual harassment allegations quiet. CNN reported more than 100 Uber drivers have been accused of abusing or sexually assaulting passengers in the last four years.

Last week, Uber announced it will no longer force passengers into arbitration if they allege they've been sexually assaulted or harassed. Previously, the ride-hailing company's terms of service pushed accusers into arbitration.

Dallas attorney Quentin Brogdon, who has represented women in two cases against Uber, said the company still needs to do more to protect its passengers.

"Uber should conduct more thorough criminal history inquiries of all of its drivers and should accept responsibility for the acts of their drivers," he said. "These additional steps would begin putting real teeth into Uber's stated fight against sexual assaults committed by its drivers."