Hancock observatory manager, under investigation for 'perv play,' removed after questions are raised
By Jason Meisner
Jul 10, 2018 | 8:50 AM
Christopher Colon, an operations manager for the 360 Chicago observatory atop the former John Hancock Center, was removed from his job after it was discovered he was a registered sex offender due to a 2015 conviction for possession of child pornography. (Illinois State Police (inset); Chicago Tribune)
The ad on a popular travel website seemed innocent enough: a free, private tour of the spectacular observatory atop the former John Hancock Center, tailored especially for fathers and sons.
But at the same time he was advertising the tour, Christopher Colon, an operations manager for the popular observatory, was also seeking other men online who were into child pornography and "perv play," according to a federal search warrant affidavit unsealed late last month.
Colon, a registered sex offender because of his 2015 felony conviction for possessing child pornography, was looking for a man willing to let his son or nephew take part in Colon's sexual fantasies, the 45-page affidavit alleged.
When a federal agent posing as a father with a 10-year-old son reached out last December, Colon said a private bathroom and office would be available during the Hancock tour "if you would like some special private time," the affidavit said.
The allegations raise questions about how Colon was allowed to work at one of city's busiest tourist attractions — boasting more than half a million visitors a year — in spite of his sex offender background.
On a recent weekday morning, a Tribune reporter visited the observatory at 875 North Michigan Avenue (as the Magnificent Mile skyscraper is now known) and found Colon still working as a manager while dozens of children waited in line to take the elevator ride to the 94th-floor observatory.
After the Tribune raised questions late last week about the convicted sex offender's employment, a spokeswoman for 360 Chicago, the observatory's owner, said in an emailed statement that the company took immediate steps "to remove this individual from our premises."
"In this matter we have acted swiftly and with an abundance of caution to ensure the safety and security of our guests and employees, which is always our foremost concern," said the spokeswoman, Natalie Stanichuk.
Stanichuk declined to answer any questions about Colon's employment history, citing company policy, but she said 360 Chicago performs background checks on all new hires as a condition of employment, using an outside agency for support.
"Multiple background checks were run on the employee in question, and no negative information was returned," Stanichuk said.
Colon, 38, has not been criminally charged with wrongdoing in the ongoing federal investigation.
The search warrant affidavit, filed under seal in April, sought court authorization to search Colon's Northwest Side home and seize his computer, electronic files and any records containing child pornography.
In a brief interview at the observatory with a Tribune reporter, Colon initially denied being aware he was under federal investigation but later acknowledged that federal agents had interviewed him and searched his Avondale neighborhood apartment in April.
Colon, who said he had worked at the observatory for several years, denied wrongdoing but declined to answer specific questions about the investigation.
In January, a Cook County judge satisfactorily ended Colon's probation for his 2015 child pornography conviction while federal authorities at the same time were secretly investigating him for allegedly similar conduct.
Records show that Colon's online activities first drew the attention of law enforcement more than seven years ago when undercover agents discovered he had used the screen name Cbdad38 to download a trove of pornographic material, including videos depicting the molestation and sexual assault of toddlers and young boys.
The FBI raided Colon's then-apartment in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in April 2011, seizing his computer, cellphone and DVDs marked "Sensitive P" that contained suspected child pornography, according to court records.
It wasn't until three years later, however, that Colon was charged in connection with the search — and it wasn't federal prosecutors who brought the case, in spite of the FBI's involvement. He was arrested by Chicago police in March 2014 and charged with 42 counts of child pornography and aggravated child pornography, Cook County court records show. At the time, he was working as a secretary at a North Side hospital, the records show.
In January 2015, Colon pleaded guilty at the Leighton Criminal Court Building to one count of possessing child pornography involving a 9-year-old victim, a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison. He was sentenced to three years of probation and given credit for 91 days he had spent in jail before posting bond, according to the records.
As a condition of his sentence, Colon was ordered by Judge Vincent Gaughan to register with the state as a sex offender, complete a treatment program and avoid all internet use. He was ordered to stay away from "places primarily used by children," such as schools, playgrounds, zoos or libraries, and specifically forbidden from working any job that "will bring him in direct contact with minor children" unless first approved by the judge, the court records show.
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Since Colon's conviction involved an underage victim, the Illinois State Police sex offender website lists him as a sexual predator, a designation that means he must register every year for the rest of his life, state records show.
According to the recently unsealed search warrant affidavit, Colon was still on probation in June 2017 when an undercover law enforcement officer answered a message posted by Colon on the online classified site Craigslist seeking others who shared his interest in "taboo/perv" sexual subjects.
"Looking to chat and possibly meet up with guys that are into similar. Into yng, fam/incest," the post said, according to the affidavit. A different post — also determined by authorities to be made by Colon — was even more explicit, saying he had "always fantasized about messing around with a guy while his son or nephew is in the next room," according to the affidavit.
"Leave the door open so ur son or neph can peek in and see you" performing a sex act, Colon allegedly wrote.
The officer, posing as a father of 10- and 12-year-old sons, began exchanging messages with Colon on Craigslist and through personal emails, according to the affidavit. In the exchanges, Colon claimed to have had sexual experiences with "young" children before and asked the undercover agent if he was interested in witnessing the abuse of his boys.
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"We would meet first just you and me," Colon wrote in one message on June 26, 2017, according to the affidavit. "Once you feel comfortable with me we could do stuff with them. What's your ideal scenario?"
The two continued to communicate for several months. At one point, according to the affidavit, Colon told the undercover officer he worked at the "observatory" and offered to get him and his sons a free ride on the popular Tilt attraction — a steel-and-glass box that tilts riders out from the building at 30 degrees at an elevation of 1,000 feet.
The invitation mirrored a similar post Colon had made in 2017 on the travel site TripAdvisor in which he offered a personal tour of the observatory "free for fathers and sons," according to the affidavit.
In December, an FBI agent posing online as a father of a 10-year-old boy reached out to Colon, who said that even though the promotion had ended he was still willing to give the tour, including a free ride on the Tilt attraction and "drinks and snacks on the 94th floor," according to the affidavit.
As he had with the other undercover agent, Colon offered to first meet the father alone "to see if we get along and take it from there," according to the affidavit. He said that when he gave the tour, a private bathroom and office would be available "if you would like some special private time."
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The affidavit alleged that wasn't the only time Colon entertained the idea of playing out his sexual fantasies while at his job at the observatory.
In December, agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security arrested another man — identified only as Individual A — on child pornography charges and uncovered hundreds of sexually explicit messages as well as child pornography videos he had exchanged with Colon on an encrypted chat application, according to the affidavit.
At one point last September, Colon and Individual A had arranged to meet at a Chicago-area location to view child pornography together, according to the affidavit. Individual A suggested a secluded parking lot on the North Side, but Colon had other ideas, authorities alleged.
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"Damn, im at work right now, wont get out until late," Colon wrote, according to the affidavit. "But I can host at my work, im by Michigan ave and Delaware."
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jmetr22b
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