Trigger warning: This post deals with rape and may be distressing for some readers.
A 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped at a Keith Urban concert this weekend, surrounded by hundreds of other fans.
The Daily Mail reports that Sean Murphy, 18, was charged with sexually assaulting the girl at the Xfinity Center in Boston on Saturday night.
Concert-goers filmed the alleged attack on their phones, although police said some were unaware of what they were witnessing.
The Sun Chronicle reports that Murphy and the alleged victim ‘began kissing near a concession stand before moving to the lawn.’ The newspaper reports that Murphy allegedly then:
took the girl’s hand and led her away from her friends to another section of the lawn, promising to bring her back. Assistant District Attorney Melissa Tafe said the girl told police she went with the defendant because “she was afraid of what would happen” if she didn’t go.
The alleged rape was first reported by another female concert-goer. A police report says the woman said she had asked the teenaged girl if the sex was consensual — and she allegedly replied ‘no’. The woman then allegedly pulled the suspect off the girl, the Sun Chronicle rep0rts.
Murphy was taken into custody on Saturday night and later charged with sexual assault, CBS News reports.
Fans who had filmed the attack later provided police with footage of what they’d seen.
The police report states Murphy told officers the act was consensual and “stressed that he did not force himself on [the girl],” CBS news reports.
A total of 50 people were reportedlytaken into protected custody on the night, and officials said 46 people in total received medical treatment on the night for mostly alcohol-related ailments.
Murphy is due back in court on 25 September.
Please note if this post or any of the comments bring up any issues for you, or if you need to speak to someone please 1800-RESPECT or the NSW Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 424 017. It does not matter where about you live in Australia, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.
Top Comments
Keith Urban's concerts are usually family friendly and fun affairs. I've been to a couple in Nashville and one in Philly and there's not been a hint of trouble.
The security in Mansfield was expecting the typical Urban concert, and hadn't beefed up for a drunken brawl brought on by tailgating outside of the venue. But nevertheless, the Xfinity authorities are to blame. They had been warned last year to clean the parking lot problem up. However, just a week or so before the Urban concert, at an EDM concert it had been necessary to call ambulances for drunken kids and still nothing was done.
Whether or not the hundreds of headlines regarding this disgusting mess have called it the 'Urban' concert or not, he isn't to blame in any way, and in fact, he should have received apologies from Mansfield for not providing significant security.
I find the fact that so many filmed this rather than do anything about it, almost as disturbing as what happened! Seriously, what is this world coming to. I understand people are afraid in situation where they might get hurt, but in this situation, with so many people around, there is no excuse. Is there anywhere we can go and feel safe these days? If we can't even go to a concert without worrying about being raped, where can we go? I feel sick and disgusted by what happened, this poor girl has to live with this for the rest of her life and this guy with probably walk free and all it could've taken to stop this was for someone to simply walk up and do what the woman in this story did, only earlier. So sad, so very very sad :(