There should be outrage about the teen who was raped in Logan Square

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Updated: February 6, 2012 9:29AM

It is a sin and a shame that an 18-year-old Highland Park woman couldn’t go to a concert in the city on New Year’s Eve without being preyed upon.

After she was unable to get into the Congress Theater concert in the Logan Square neighborhood because she didn’t have identification, the woman was later found beaten, naked and bleeding outside the theater.

Police were unable to identify the young woman until late Sunday morning. They believe six men may have assaulted the woman.

As of Wednesday afternoon, however, three teens questioned in the attack had been released without any charges.

Meanwhile, the disc jockey whose concert the young woman was trying to attend has urged Facebook and Twitter fans to report any lead to police.

What happened to this poor girl is every parent’s nightmare.

From the time our teens are old enough to go to concerts with their friends, until they pack up and move out, you worry.

You worry about car accidents. You worry about bad influences. You worry about the dangers that you escaped and lived to tell about. For years, the sweetest sound you’ll hear is your teen’s key in the door and his or her footsteps in the hall.

I can’t imagine the pain this family is going through.

They are living the scenario I used to warn my then-teen daughters about when I wanted to scare them into passing on the must-be-there party.

The New Year’s Eve assault should horrify every parent and particularly those who live anywhere near the 2100 block of North Rockwell.

The assault not only makes the city of Chicago look like a place so dangerous that a young woman can’t be on the street after dark, but also it makes Logan Square look like a haven for criminals.

Sexually assaulting the woman is horrible enough, but leaving her naked on a sidewalk in front of residential homes tells me that the perpetrators aren’t afraid of being identified.

It is hard to believe that this atrocity, which allegedly involved six men, occurred at 9:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, and no one saw anything that could lead to charges.

That’s unfortunate. Next time the girl lying naked in the street could be the mother or sister or girlfriend or aunt of someone in the neighborhood.

I also do not understand how the victim ended up trying to get into the concert alone. That should never happen. Chicago is a beautiful city, but it is not a safe city, especially for young suburban women who don’t tend to have a lot of street smarts.

If this victim went to the concert with friends but was the only person turned away, her friends shouldn’t have left her outside alone.

The rules are simple:

You leave home together. You come back together.

There has been an outpouring of concern for this victim. But there should also be unrelenting outrage until the perpetrators are behind bars.

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On Friday, Jan. 13, from 6-8 p.m., Byron Pickett, along with members of his band, “Phenomenon,” will perform at the Little Black Pearl, 1960 East 47th. Admission is free. The “thank-you” concert will give interested donors an opportunity to meet Pickett before he leaves for the Berklee College of Music.

Also, when I opened the envelope that was sent by Phillip Denne Jr., a fifth-grader at Mark T. Skinner Classical School, and 13-year-old Jordyn Denne of Kenwood Academy, I couldn’t help smiling.

The Dennes donated $5 each.

“I wanted to congratulate you on getting enough money and excelling through tough times,” wrote Phillip.

“I hope you have fun in Boston and use all the money you get wisely,” wrote Jordyn. “Your family will always be in my prayers.”

No matter how bad things look, there’s hope.