Lawsuit Claims Ice Cream Shop Owner Secretly Videotaped 11 Teenage Girls In Bathroom

CHICAGO — A civil lawsuit was filed Thursday against the owner of an Addison ice cream shop, who is accused of secretly videotaping at least 11 teenage girls he employed while they were in the bathroom at work. Romanucci & Blandin, a Chicago-based law firm representing the victims, say the Buffalo Grove resident also required female employees to changes clothes for marketing photos, made unwelcome physical advances and offered them alcohol and marijuana.

Steven Weisberg, 58, was arrested in August and charged with two felony counts of child pornography and unauthorized video recording at his business, Flavor Frenzy. The business has since closed and its business license was voluntarily surrendered, according to the Addison Police Department.

According to Addison police, an undercover officer went to the ice cream shop and saw what appeared to be an outlet in the bathroom with a small black lens positioned to capture portions of the bathroom, including a urinal.

After obtaining a search warrant, officers removed the fake outlet and found that it contained a camera. Weisberg is accused of installing the camera "a few years earlier" and police believe he was able to access and save video footage from the camera on his laptop and cellphone.

Last month, a DuPage County grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging Weisberg with 66 counts of child pornography and 32 counts of unauthorized video recording. His pre-trial release was denied, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.

Romanucci & Blandin is holding a press conference regarding the lawsuit Thursday at its Chicago office.

"There is little that is more wholesome than a high school job scooping ice cream at a local shop, but for our 11 teenage clients, this deceptively pleasant part-time job turned into manipulation, exploitation, shame, distrust, disrespect, and disbelief," said Antonio M. Romanucci, founding partner of Romanucci & Blandin, LLC.

RELATED: Ice Cream Shop Owner Secretly Recorded Underage Female Employees With Fake Wall Outlet: Police

The lawsuit claims Weisberg "used the appearance of a family-friendly business to entice teenage girls to work there." It also states he would cross personal boundaries by touching their hair, rubbing their backs, and making inappropriate contact with their buttocks. Weisberg allegedly asked them to take an online "purity test" and share the results with him.

The former female employees were between the ages of 14 and 17 when the incidents occurred, which was between 2021 and this year. One of the plaintiffs is also represented by Ben Crump Law.

Other claims in the lawsuit, according to Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, include:

• Weisberg instructed the female employees that bras should not be visible outside their shirts unless the bra matched the top being worn.
• When employees wore tank tops, Weisberg provided them with "matching" bras and directed that the straps be shown.
• In other cases, Weisberg insisted that employees either not wear a bra or wear a strapless bra provided by him.
• Weisberg then directed employees to change shirts in the restroom under these conditions, while secretly videotaping them.

The lawsuit also says Weisberg would intentionally cultivate personal relationships with the minor female employees by asking them questions about their personal lives, calling and texting them outside of work, and discussing personal matters during work shifts.

Weisberg would exploit his position of authority over the employees by admonishing them for wearing pants that were not sufficiently tight-fitting, claiming the outfit violated the dress code. He expressed a desire to hire high school girls with large breasts to work on a "Lemonade Shakeup" promotion.

According to the lawsuit, on multiple occasions, Flavor Frenzy withheld wages owed to employees and/or paid them at rates below the minimum wage required under Illinois and federal law. The lawyers claim that the withholding of wages and paying below minimum wage "increased the vulnerability of minor employees, reinforcing Weisberg's control over them and discouraging them from reporting misconduct or leaving their jobs."