TINLEY PARK, IL — The attorney representing a Frankfort man charged in an alleged sexual assault at a Tinley Park concert in July 2025 has decried several claims made against his client in a lawsuit filed by his accuser and her family.
The lawsuit—which names Live Nation Entertainment and Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre—was filed Tuesday on behalf of the girl and her parents. It claims negligence, lack of adequate security measures, and failure to protect minors at the July 2025 Wiz Khalifa and Sean Paul concert.
Roman Basso, 18, of Frankfort, was arrested in January 2026 in connection with the incident. The arrest followed a months-long investigation, police said at the time. In the suit, Chicago law firm Wallace Miller states that the victim attended the concert with a friend and that friend's mother, and that the adult purchased alcohol at the venue and gave it to the teen. The victim was later followed by her attacker to a restroom on the south side of the venue, the suit alleges.
Basso, the suit states, then led her into a restricted area, where he is accused of sexually assaulting her.
In a statement provided to Patch late Tuesday, Attorney and Managing Partner Todd Pugh of Breen & Pugh said the "allegations made against Mr. Basso are contradicted by the venue's surveillance video and, in critical respects, by the Plaintiff's own statements to the police."
The statement reads that the firm does not, as a rule, comment publicly on pending matters.
"We make an exception today because counsel for the Plaintiff in the civil lawsuit against Live Nation and the Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre held a press conference that was rife with false statements about our client, Roman Basso — statements that are contradicted by the venue’s own surveillance video and, in critical respects, by the Plaintiff’s own statements to police," the statement reads.
In the text, Pugh disputes the description of Basso as an "adult man."
"That characterization is misleading," Pugh wrote. "At the time of the concert, Mr. Basso was an eighteen-year-old recent high school graduate, weeks away from beginning his freshman year at Arizona State University."
He went on to say that the accuser and her friends at the concert represented themselves as students at Ohio State University. Pugh says they all met at the concert, and that the accuser "flirted with Mr. Basso throughout the evening.
"Video taken by the Plaintiff herself shows the two of them watching the concert with their hands affectionately on each other," Pugh wrote.
The lawsuit alleges poor security and underage drinking at the venue before the assault, saying that a friend's mother had purchased alcohol within the venue and provided it to the girls.
Pugh calls that false, saying that the girl's statement to police contradicted those claims.
"The Plaintiff and her friend told police that, before arriving at the venue, they drank vodka — supplied to them by the friend’s mother — out of a water bottle," Pugh wrote. "They further admitted that they smuggled four Pink Whitney’s and a marijuana vape pen into the venue, all likewise supplied by the friend’s mother. Mr. Basso did not purchase, possess, or provide any alcohol or drugs to the Plaintiff at any point."
The lawsuit claims that Basso followed his accuser to a restroom on the south side of the venue and "led her into a restricted area" where she has alleged the assault happened.
"That is false," Pugh states. "Venue surveillance video shows the Plaintiff pulling Mr. Basso into the area behind the restrooms — not the other way around."
Pugh goes on to state that the allegations of a sexual assault occurring are also false.
"Venue surveillance video shows the two young people consensually kissing, making out, and engaging in consensual sexual activity," Pugh said. "The video then shows the Plaintiff and Mr. Basso walking out of that area together, holding hands."
Except for a 30-second gap, Pugh says the encounter was captured on surveillance video.
"There was no sexual assault," he said. "There was no 'following.' There was no 'bringing' of the Plaintiff into a restricted area. There was no provision of alcohol or drugs by Mr. Basso. There is video."
At the time of Basso's arrest, police said that an investigation had been initiated after hospital staff in Ohio notified Tinley Park police of the incident. Surveillance footage provided by Live Nation, witness statements and a forensic interview supported the victim’s account, police said. Additional evidence was collected with assistance from the Indian Hill Police Department in Ohio.
Investigators were able to confirm Basso’s identity and learned he was enrolled at Arizona State University (ASU), police said. Coordination with ASU police helped Tinley Park detectives locate Basso, who was taken into custody in Frankfort on Jan. 6. While in custody, Basso made a post-Miranda confession, police said.
Basso was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault/bodily harm, a class X felony. He has pleaded not guilty.
Court records show the case was last before Cook County Judge Margaret Ogarek on May 11, when a continuance was issued in the discovery phase. He is next due in court June 10.
“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,” said Pugh, who is managing partner of the firm.
"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..."
Live Nation issued a statement on the lawsuit to Fox 32 Chicago, 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."
Patch reached out to Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre for comment regarding the lawsuit and has not heard back.
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