Haunted House Manager Responds to Dirty Clown Controversy, Denies Profane Facebook Post

A screenshot taken from Massacre General Manager Nic Miele’s Facebook page on Wednesday night (profanity blacked out). The page, which was public, has since been taken down.

A day after news broke that one if its employees was accused of touching a 17-year-old customer with a sex toy while asking sexual questions, a Halloween attraction once voted “Illinois’ scariest haunted house” issued a statement regarding the incident — and a manager claims his Facebook page was hacked in the aftermath.

• Scary Clown Charged With Battery at Montgomery Haunted House

On Saturday, a 23-year-old Algonquin man, identified by Montgomery police as Robert Keller, was arrested on charges of battery and disorderly conduct after allegedly making inappropriate comments to customers at the Massacre Haunted House, 299 Montgomery Road, in Montgomery.

Keller is also accused “touching them on their body” with an unidentified object. An Oswego father told reporters that his 17-year-old daughter was touched with a sex toy, and when his wife asked the Massacre employee to stop, he waved it in her face and continued asking sexual questions. The man claimed another Massacre employee was carrying a bloody Teddy bear with a sex toy.

Shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday, an employee with Naperville PR firm Mack Communications issued a statement on behalf of Massacre General Manager Nic Miele.

“We make every effort to ensure our Halloween experience is as safe and as scary as possible,” Miele said in the statement. “We abide by all regulations, take all allegations of misconduct seriously, and are cooperating with police. All the while, we are committed to continuing our Halloween tradition of fear and fright for many years to come. For a decade, we have entertained over 100,000 patrons in suburban Chicago without incident and are recognized as the #1 Haunted House in Illinois.”

At around the same time, a status update was posted on Miele’s Facebook page saying that camera crews were stationed outside the haunt for the 9 p.m. news, and asking Miele’s friends if he should reference a profane act when addressing reporters, adding “Lol.”

An earlier update on Miele’s page also appeared to address the incident, saying, “People need to lighten up, the weather lady in Europe is topless! :)“

On Thursday, another spokesman with Mack Communications told Patch that Miele’s page was hacked.

“I have spoken to Nic and he says he didn’t post that comment,” Nate Brown said in an email to Patch. “His account was hacked and he has since deactivated his Facebook page. I can assure you he and the owner are taking this matter very seriously. They have met with the police chief, mayor and village board members and are fully cooperating with officials. They are 100 percent committed to running a safe business.”

Brown also said Keller, the actor who was arrested on Saturday, has been fired.

The Massacre also posted Miele’s statement on Oswego Patch’s Facebook page, but did not respond to a resident who asked the haunt to explain a photo of actors dressed as scary clowns in a sexually suggestive position. In the photo, one actor is holding what appears to be a sex toy, while the other has a Teddy bear. The reader claimed the photo had been posted on the Massacre’s website but was taken down after the incident.

Although the suggestive photo was nowhere to be found on The Massacre’s website, a video on the Massacre’s YouTube page, which notes that “this haunted house is not for kids,” features a nipple-tweaking clown who dares viewers to check out the haunt.