A so-called transgender registered sex offender will not face prosecution after allegedly attempting to kidnap a child from a Colorado schoolyard, due to a judge’s dismissal of charges under a state law that critics say leaves dangerous offenders without accountability.
Solomon Galligan—who now reportedly goes by Carmen—was declared mentally incompetent by medical evaluators after allegedly trying to abduct an 11-year-old boy during recess at Black Forest Hills Elementary School in Aurora in April 2024.
The mental health evaluation found Galligan could not be restored to competency, triggering an automatic dismissal of charges under a 2024 amendment to Colorado’s competency law.
That law requires dismissal when a defendant is deemed permanently incompetent to stand trial.
Ryan Brackley, assistant district attorney in Colorado’s 18th Judicial District, handled the prosecution.
He warned that the legal requirement to dismiss such cases leaves communities at risk.
“Someone could ask that she be put into a more long term, secure facility, but because the criminal case had to be dismissed, that’s not something that we have any control over anymore. And that’s why we find the statute deficient,” Brackley said.
He added that prosecutors want to prevent a “revolving door through the criminal justice system, into the civil justice system and back to the criminal justice system without any meaningful secure mental health treatment.”
The District Attorney’s office said Galligan is currently in a treatment center.
A spokesperson stated, “Given Galligan’s documented history of mental illness and previous criminal cases, we are hopeful they will remain in an in-patient treatment center for the foreseeable future.”
Galligan could be released only if “a licensed professional notates that they believe Galligan is no longer a threat to the public or themselves” during a formal review, according to the DA’s office.
Galligan’s defense attorney criticized the state’s system after the dismissal, saying, “We recognize that there is a broken system in the state of Colorado,” according to KUSA.
Family members also voiced concerns.
Galligan’s older sister, Sarah Galligan, told 9News in April 2024 that her brother has been in and out of jail for 12 years and that the community is unsafe with him free.
She said Galligan was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder at age 16, had been found unfit to stand trial in previous cases, and was not previously institutionalized due to a shortage of available beds in mental health facilities.
Denver7 reported in October 2023 that the shortage continues.
“It just really sucks he had to do something so eye-catching for everybody to see he’s not well, and he’s not OK to be out and be on his own,” she said.
The New York Post outlined that the father of the 11-year-old boy involved, Dante White, said his son was playing in the schoolyard when Galligan ran toward the children.
Since the incident, White said his son and other children have been undergoing therapy for trauma.
“A lot of the kids were just constantly being vigilant, even at home. My son wouldn’t even go upstairs to, like, brush his teeth unless I was right there with him. And that’s not a way to live,” White said.
White told the Post that Colorado’s mental health institutions lack “the funding and backing to continue to hold these people,” calling the shortage “a huge oversight” that leads to “habitual offenses.”
Aurora Police Association President David Exstrom also spoke out, saying the judicial system failed the children.
“My heart breaks for the kids that were at that school on the playground that day that they had recently experienced that,” Exstrom said.
“And then to see that he wasn’t held accountable for that. My question is going to be, what’s kind of the long term impact that those kids have in the police in our judicial system?” he added.
Galligan publicly announced a gender transition in 2011 through a Facebook post and began identifying as a woman, Resist the Mainstream previously reported.
That same year, Galligan was registered as a sex offender after a conviction for non-consensual sexual contact.
Surveillance footage from the April 2024 incident allegedly shows Galligan running toward students in the field before they scattered, yelling “Stranger danger!”
Galligan allegedly grabbed one of the children but released him after tripping over a white blanket he was carrying, according to a police report.
The victim told police Galligan had white powder on his face and smelled of alcohol.
Police arrested Galligan shortly afterward at a nearby Walgreens.
Galligan’s defense attorney said competency has been an issue in every case the defendant has faced since 2007.
The most recent evaluation concluded Galligan is mentally incompetent, which led to the court’s dismissal of charges.
The post ‘Trans’ Sex Offender Walks Free After Schoolyard Abduction Attempt Under Controversial Competency Law appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
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Author: Jordyn M.
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