A lawsuit has been filed against Cascade County and the Mighty Thomas Carnival for their involvement in a 2018 incident in which a carnival employee groped multiple patrons.

The employee, Roberto Salaman-Garcia, was convicted in 2019 on four counts of sexual assault.

Carnival worker charged with second count of sexual assault from incidents at Montana State Fair in Cascade County [2018]

Three victims brought the civil suit that was filed July 27. One of the victims is a detective with the Great Falls Police Department and went public about the incident shortly after it happened in 2018.

In their lawsuit, the victims allege that the Thomas Carnival worked to protect itself and Salaman-Garcia. The company posted his bail and paid for his attorney, according to the lawsuit.

In their suit, the victims allege that the company’s public statements in support of its employee “induced public shaming of plaintiff. Following the arrest of its employee, Thomas Carnival had every opportunity to do the right thing, yet it consistently put the interests of its company above those of the women he harmed.”

The victims also name Cascade County in the suit since the county contracted with the Thomas Carnival and failed to impose rules and regulations on the carnival to prevent harm and had the power, under the contract, to shut down the carnival if it failed to provide proper oversight.