Inside Shocking Claims Against Ex-Colorado Mountain Club Exec

At 10 a.m. today, October 5, Chun Min Chiang, 39, is scheduled to be arraigned in Jefferson County Court on 24 criminal charges, including burglary, stalking and invasion of privacy for purposes of sexual gratification. But there's much more to the story than that.

After Chiang's arrest in March, Golden Police Department officers said they'd found as many as 13,000 videos "that appeared to involve females being recorded without their knowledge in restrooms, fitting rooms, and up their skirts at various locations."

That revelation was followed by complaints from employees at the venerable Colorado Mountain Club, where Chiang had worked in a variety of executive roles, including human resources director, prior to being fired in late 2019 for alleged sexual harassment. The staffers accuse the CMC of putting them in harm's way by hiring Chiang despite his prior convictions for similar crimes and his status as a registered sex offender — information that club reps say they didn't learn until after his latest arrest — and waiting far too long to take their concerns about his behavior seriously.

The Golden Police Department announced Chiang's bust on March 18, but the investigation began months earlier. On September 28, 2020, GPD officers responded to the Colorado Mountain Club, located at 710 10th Street in Golden, after a reported hack of the organization's social media account that linked to a video on a pornographic website. A subsequent investigation revealed the identity of the woman in the video, which was recorded at her home without her knowledge, and she named Chiang as the likely suspect.

The following December, Golden Police detectives, assisted by an investigator with the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office and members of the Boulder County Computer Forensic Lab, served a search warrant on Chiang's residence and subsequently seized computers, cell phones and more that stored over forty terabytes of videos and photos. The aforementioned 13,000 videos included more than 200 images and clips characterized as "suspected child pornography and exploitation."

By the time local authorities were ready to fit Chiang with a set of cuffs, he'd relocated to Wisconsin. But in March, members of the police department for the Wisconsin community of Waukesha, along with U.S. Marshal's Office reps, took him into custody to await extradition to Colorado.

The Jeffco arrest warrant for Chiang, though heavily redacted, is a 25-page account of alleged horrors complete with details of recording techniques involving, among other things, a shoe-mounted camera. The document includes this account of how Chiang's actions impacted one victim: "Since learning of the investigation, [redacted] can't get out of bed. She cries a lot and felt like her depression has pulled her back down. She feels as if she is slowly progressing down, where she has started to drink and smoke to cope with everything. She is constantly worried about cameras in her home and worried about the unknown. She rarely eats and feels sick. Sometimes she cannot eat for days, has lost weight and is down to 100 pounds."

The bust was hardly a first for Chiang, as indicated by a cache of reports filed in Boulder County in 2005 and 2006. Back then, he faced 29 charges that included multiple invasion of privacy and third-degree sexual-assault counts over so-called "Peeping Tom photos"; they appeared to have been taken at University of Colorado Boulder settings such as the CU Bookstore and the Norlin Library. A 2005 supplemental report to the documents (which we're not sharing here because it includes victim names), notes a conversation between a Boulder investigator and Chiang's probation officer, who confirmed that she'd previously had him busted "on a violation of his probation that stemmed from a previous [2004] conviction in which he had installed a camera under a female co-worker's desk."

While Chiang's criminal charges were reported by the Boulder Daily Camera and certainly generated reams of official paperwork, a Colorado Mountain Club statement issued in July insists that personnel had no idea about Chiang's convictions when he was hired "over a decade prior to the incidents at issue in the criminal case."

During those years, Chiang handled finance, technology and HR duties for the CMC. But while most of his alleged criminal activities were surreptitious, complaints filed on behalf of six female and two male employees with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Colorado Civil Rights Division contend that the 111-year-old club "did little to protect victims of sexual harassment and exploitation by aiding Chiang’s harassing behavior for years and retaliating against them when they asked for more safety measures," according to the Outside Business Journal. The workers are represented by attorney Paula Griesen, who's involved in another high-profile case — the claim by Autumn Scardina that Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips discriminated against her by refusing to make a pink-and-blue birthday cake for her after learning that she's transgender. In June, a court ruled in Scardina's favor; Phillips appealed in early August.

We've reached out to Colorado Mountain Club for a comment on Chiang's case and to see if the organization has anything to add to its July statement, which appears in its entirety here:

"We are appalled and disgusted by the actions of the defendant. Just as we have for many months, we continue to take steps to assist our current and former employees, volunteers and stakeholders through this difficult time.

"We were not aware of the defendant’s criminal background until we were advised of the same by the Golden Police Department as part of the current criminal case. The defendant was hired over a decade prior to the incidents at issue in the criminal case, based on knowledge of his work with another reputable and long standing Colorado employer. During the criminal investigation, we have learned that the defendant may have falsified his background to a state agency prior to his employment with us. We conduct all required background checks. This encompasses our positions that work with youth. The defendant did not work with youth while employed with us. The Golden Police Department has further ensured us that the defendant did not victimize any youth at CMC.

"The Colorado Mountain Club is a nonprofit focused on community, education, adventure, and conservation. Our values and mission-driven culture are not limited to the outdoors — we also endeavor to create a safe and inclusive space for our employees, volunteers, members, and partners. We do not tolerate discrimination or sexual harassment. The defendant’s employment terminated in November 2019 following an investigation of his conduct, unrelated to any of the alleged criminal activity. We reported a hack of our Instagram account to authorities in September 2020 and were later informed that the defendant was under criminal investigation in December 2020. We have cooperated fully in the criminal investigation, and through this cooperation have become aware that the Golden Police Department has notified several adult female individuals that they have been named as victims in this case. CMC has also been named as a victim in the criminal case. We did not have any knowledge of the defendant using cameras to victimize people until we received notice of the same from law enforcement.

"Throughout the criminal investigation and now the criminal case, we have continued to work with current and former employees regarding their concerns related to the defendant and his actions. We have provided individualized support to ensure the safety and well-being of our current and former employees, including:

• Immediately conducting a professional sweep of our building. No cameras or electronic recording devices were found during this professional sweep;

• Immediately rekeying all building perimeter, and master and office locks, as well as resetting all alarm codes;

• Bringing in two IT companies to audit internal computer security to ensure no system vulnerabilities exist. No privacy vulnerabilities have been located;

• Providing all employees four additional weeks of paid time off for any needs related to the defendant’s actions and the criminal case. Also allowing any employee who requested to, to exhaust all other paid leave;

• Providing access to individual counseling;

• Providing access to group counseling;

• While there is no evidence that employees’ laptops were compromised, offering and providing any employees directly victimized by the defendant or who were concerned for their personal safety a new computer when the employee was ready to return to work; and

• Providing any employees directly victimized by the defendant or who were concerned for their personal safety access to individualized services as requested such as Lifelock and a forensic sweep of their home.

"The Colorado Mountain Club is the Rocky Mountains’ community for mountaincraft education, adventure, and conservation. We come together to share our love of the mountains. Since our founding in 1912, we’ve built a legacy of responsible outdoor leadership and ethics. We are appalled and disgusted by the actions of the defendant and continue to stand in support of all the victims named in the criminal case, as well as our employees, volunteers and stakeholders, while our tight knit community continues to process the events surrounding the criminal case. We are thankful for the overwhelming support from the CMC community and the gratitude that has been expressed by many in our community for our transparency and leadership through this difficult time."

Click to read Chun Min Chiang's 2021 Jefferson County arrest warrant, Colorado v. Chun Min Chiang, which lists the charges against him, and 2005-2006 Boulder County documents.