Arapahoe County District Attorney Amy Padden is facing intense criticism after her office declined to prosecute a registered sex offender accused of attempting to abduct a child from a Colorado school playground.
The case was dismissed after the suspect, 33-year-old Solomon Galligan, was declared mentally unfit to stand trial by court-appointed evaluators.
The incident occurred in April 2024 at Black Forest Hills Elementary School in Aurora, Colorado.
Surveillance footage reportedly shows Galligan entering the playground during recess and pursuing an 11-year-old boy, grabbing at him while other children ran away.
Galligan, who remains a registered sex offender tied to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, was quickly apprehended.
Despite the disturbing nature of the video evidence, prosecutors said Colorado law bars legal proceedings against individuals found mentally incompetent, regardless of the underlying allegations.
Parents and community members reacted with outrage.
“It’s super scary to watch,” parent Dante White told FOX31, per Fox News. “Especially seeing the pictures of him.”
“I would be freaked out if that guy touched me.”
Others questioned how someone with Galligan’s background was able to approach schoolchildren so easily.
The incident prompted further backlash toward school officials.
Concerned parents submitted a 10-page complaint to the Cherry Creek School District demanding an independent review.
In the weeks that followed, Principal Amanda Replogle was removed from her position.
In a letter to families, Replogle admitted the school failed to enact a secure status lockdown immediately after the attempted abduction and acknowledged confusion in the response process.
“We did not know all the details of what occurred as we do now,” she wrote.
Following the incident, the district implemented new safety measures, including more visible security officers, an optional indoor recess policy and enhanced mental health resources for students.
These changes were designed to reassure families and address vulnerabilities in the system, Fox News reports.
Public anger over the DA’s decision has been amplified by recent comparisons to another controversial case in the same jurisdiction.
Last year, Padden’s office agreed to a plea deal with a 15-year-old illegal immigrant who killed a young woman in a high-speed crash.
Despite being in the country unlawfully and lacking a driver’s license, the teen received just two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
That decision, too, was widely criticized for being overly lenient, as Resist the Mainstream previously reported.
The X account Libs of TikTok also highlighted Galligan’s online presence, including posts suggesting he was trans-identifying.
According to the social media account, these revelations come at a time when Colorado has passed new legislation—referred to as “Tiara’s Law”—that permits trans-identifying individuals to shield portions of their criminal history from public view.
As a result, Galligan may eventually be able to conceal his sex offender status and other past convictions.
At present, Galligan remains free and unprosecuted, though officials noted that the case could be revisited if he is ever deemed competent.
In the meantime, many parents and community advocates remain deeply concerned about what they view as a dangerous pattern of prosecutorial discretion that puts public safety at risk.
The post Colorado DA Under Fire After Registered S*x Offender Avoids Prosecution After Attempted Child Abduction at Elementary School appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
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Author: Gloriel Howard
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