Lawsuit alleges Live Nation failed to protect teen sexually assaulted at Tinley Park amphitheatre

TINLEY PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- The civil lawsuit claims that when a minor buys a ticket to a concert, the concert venue is responsible for protecting her.

And they allege Live Nation, which owns the Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, failed to protect a teen girl from being sexually assaulted by an 18-year-old college student.

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The Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Tinley Park holds about 28,000 fans for concerts. And they had a big crowd last July for the Wiz Khalifa and Sean Paul concert.

But Molly Wells, the attorney for a 16-year-old girl, says an 18-year-old college student sexually assaulted her young client in a restricted area of the venue.

"This has been incredibly tough on them. A life-changing event that happened and never be undone. Something she'll live with for the rest of her life," Wells said.

Attorneys have filed this lawsuit on behalf of the girl and her parents, claiming negligence on the part of Live Nation. Among the allegations are that the amphitheater failed to provide adequate security to identify and protect against predatory behavior, it failed to monitor or prohibit entry to the area where the alleged assault took place, and it failed to prevent alcohol from being served to a minor.

According to the lawsuit, the mother of a friend who was with the 16-year-old girl at the show bought alcohol for the alleged victim. However, that mother is not named in the suit.

"We're here to talk about what Live Nation didn't do, what they failed to do, and what they should have done," Wells said.

Roman Basso, of Frankfurt, was indicted in February on charges of aggravated criminal sexual assault. He was a student at Arizona State University.

According to their attorney, the victim and her family are withholding their identities to protect their privacy. Through their attorney, they say they are trying to protect other young concertgoers as the summer concert season ramps up. Their attorney claims Live Nation has a history of alleged security lapses which have led to numerous incidents of violence at concerts.

"I would say to parents that they should know when they are sending their children to a concert, that venue should be doing everything possible to keep their kids safe," Wells said.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Live Nation released a statement, saying, "The safety and security of our guests is our top priority. We cooperated fully with law enforcement regarding this case. As this matter involves ongoing litigation, we do not have anything further to share at this time."

Todd S. Pugh, an attorney representing Basso, issued a statement, saying, in part, "My client is an eighteen-year-old young man whose reputation has been recklessly attacked at a press conference held with no apparent investigation and in plain contradiction of the venue's own surveillance video... We do not normally respond publicly to pending matters. But when counsel chooses to try a case through press conference using statements that the video and the Plaintiff's own police report show to be false, silence is not an option. Every news organization handed these allegations should obtain and review the venue's surveillance footage before repeating a single one of them."