Illinois man arrested on sex charges involving minor from Portage area

A Darien, Illinois, man faces four felony charges after picking up a Portagearea boy in the middle of the night in late March, taking him to a Valparaiso hotel where the two had sexual contact and then taking the boy back home after he provided the teen with money for drugs and alcohol, according to court documents.

Jason Hammer, 44, was charged with two counts of sexual misconduct with a minor, a level 4 felony; one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a level 6 felony; and one count of possession of child pornography, also a level 6 felony.

The father of the boy, who is 15, contacted police on March 31 because at 3 a.m. that day, he woke up to use the bathroom, heard a noise and saw that his son’s bedroom window was open. He determined that the teen sneaked out and was sneaking back in.

The father checked the messages on his son’s phone and determined that his son and someone named “Jason,” an adult male, exchanged sexually explicit messages and discussed where to meet, documents state.

The teen told police he and “Jason” used a dating app and switched to another social media platform to exchange pictures. The teen didn’t know the man’s last name but said he sneaked out of his room and met “Jason” at a nearby park before the man drove them to a Valparaiso hotel.

The two, the teen said, had sexual relations at the hotel before “Jason” took him home.

Police determined Hammer checked into the hotel room at 10:48 p.m. March 30 and checked out at 2:12 a.m. March 31, documents state.

The teen told police Hammer started an online conversation with him a couple of days before Hammer agreed to meet with the teen for sexual relations, and the teen told

Hammer he was 15 at the time.

When Hammer picked up the boy at the park, according to the documents, he confirmed with the teen that he really was 15. “I was expecting there to be a whole bunch of cops here,” Hammer told the teen.

After the encounter, Hammer drove to an ATM and provided the teen with $40 “so he could purchase weed and Henessey,” documents state.

Hammer’s bond was set at $10,000 surety and $5,000 cash; he has bonded out of Porter County Jail, according to online court records.

His case has been assigned to Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer.