Bond hearing started for Chicago man charged with rape, child molestation

The first part of a bond hearing was held Thursday for a Chicago man charged with rape and child molestation.

Christopher Colbert, 36, was charged Nov. 17 with over a dozen felonies, including rape, child molesting and domestic battery, records show.

His lawyer Susan Severtson wants a judge to reduce his $7,500 cash bond, while Deputy Prosecutor Arturo Balcazar has filed to double it, according to court documents.

Balcazar argued in filings that Colbert was a “danger” to the community and a flight risk — saying he tried to cross the U.S. border into Canada between Nov. 13-15 after he learned about his criminal case. He was arrested on Dec. 4 in Arizona.

If he was released on bond, Balcazar asked for “additional monitoring.”

Judge Natalie Bokota heard in court from Colbert’s grandmother Thursday on his behalf. Balcazar’s motion to increase Colbert’s bond to $150,000, or $15,000 cash, was just filed Wednesday evening — too late for Severtson to review it.

A new date is set for Jan. 11 — for Balcazar’s motion and the rest of the bond hearing.

Another woman, 21, testified she was Colbert’s friend of a few years. When pressed by Deputy Prosecutor Jessica Arnold, she admitted they had been dating for a month and talked to him daily in jail.

Dyer Police Detective Kyle Kozubal wrote that a different woman went to the police station Nov. 3 to report a preteen girl’s abuse.

Colbert set up a Ring video system in the child’s room. Video from around 11 p.m. Oct. 22 showed Colbert lying next to the girl in the bed. He sexually assaults the child.

The girl “does not appear to react” or know “what was going on,” according to the affidavit.

When the woman confronted him, Colbert kicked her to the ground. She ran to their bedroom to save the Ring video on her cellphone. He chased her around, then held a gun to her head.

He went back to the girl’s room.

The child told investigators Colbert had abused her for seven years — including at houses in Hammond and Dyer. He gave her “drugs,” “weed gummies,” and a “sex pill.”

He gave the kids “sleep medicine,” the child said. It made her “dizzy,” and she went “straight to sleep.” He also gave her cocaine in the past, she alleged.

He showed her pornography on his cellphone, according to an affidavit.

mcolias@post-trib.com