A creepy mugshot quickly went viral after a registered sex offender allegedly approached children at an elementary school, causing the students to immediately scatter and start screaming. Now, in addition to his alleged crime and appearance, his 2011 Facebook post has also drawn national attention.
Solomon Galligan, a 33-year-old registered sex offender, was captured on surveillance camera video coming onto a field at Black Forest Hills Elementary School in Aurora, Colorado, at approximately 2:20 pm on a Friday while children were playing on the field during fifth-grade recess, according to 9 News. In the surveillance footage, Galligan was seen approaching students, but thankfully, they knew exactly what to do.
Just moments after the surveillance video captured Galligan approaching the students, he lunged toward them. The children began to scatter and started screaming, “Stranger danger!” Unfortunately, Galligan allegedly managed to grab hold of one of the children, but thankfully, he lost his grip when he tripped on a white blanket he had been carrying. Galligan then fled, but the student he had nearly abducted was able to give a disturbing description of the perp to cops.
In addition to saying the suspect was wearing a blue hoodie and dark pants and had dreadlocks, the child who had escaped the registered sex offender’s grasp told police that the perp also had white powder smeared on his face and smelled of alcohol. Armed with that description, cops were able to track Galligan down. After locating him at a nearby Walgreens, authorities placed him under arrest. He was charged with one count of attempted kidnapping, and his rather creepy mugshot was taken.
After being busted for allegedly trying to snatch a child from a Colorado elementary school, it was discovered that Galligan had been placed on the sex offender registry in 2011 when he was convicted of non-consent sexual contact, according to his arrest affidavit. That same year, Galligan, who was identified as male in the arrest affidavit, shared news of his transition on Facebook.
“So im starting my hormone shots and i relly cant wait im on my hormone pills ive been on them for almost 4 months i wake up all depressed and crying but in the end its gonna be totally worth it you know what io mean im really excited my measurements are already changing and im super thrilled,” Galligan wrote in his 2011 Facebook post.
According to the NY Post, the details regarding the 2011 incident that resulted in Soloman Galligan becoming a registered sex offender “weren’t immediately clear.” However, given his past and in the wake of his more recent arrest for attempted kidnapping, he was ordered held on a $25,000 bail at the Aurora jail.
The Cherry Creek School District emailed the Black Forest Hills Community, alerting parents about the incident on the Friday that it had occurred, and by Monday morning, several dozen concerned parents showed up outside the elementary school, demanding answers. Although the district said it takes “all safety concerns very seriously” and is “committed to being transparent and accountable to our community,” it also confirmed that it did not issue a “secured perimeter” protocol in response to the incident.
This, of course, didn’t sit well with concerned parents, including Casey Hotchkiss, who said she didn’t feel like she had the full story from the school. Pointing to a lapse in communication and lambasting the school’s failure to immediately enact a new policy, Hotchkiss further voiced disappointment over the school’s “incompetence,” causing her to question sending her child to school.
“I think the communication is, 100%, the biggest trigger for most people because we’re going into it blind and we are trusting you’re telling us the truth and when we find out things from the community and news sources that you aren’t, it’s professionally incompetence,” Hotchkiss said. “There’s a lapse here,” she explained. “So how can I feel good about sending my kid here?” she asked.
“We go forward when they give me a safety plan and they can take that attendance policy and throw it to the sky until they give me a safety plan,” Hotchkiss said. “But I’m still being met with, ‘We’re not ready, ma’am,’ it’s been three days. Three days.”
It is nothing short of disturbing when a stranger and a predator can walk onto school property and put their hands on a small child with little to no obstacle getting in their way. When that perp looks like a zombie, it’s all the more distressing and difficult to understand. He looked like something out of a nightmare in his mugshot, yet he walked onto school property like this and approached students with no one attempting to stop him. Parents have every right to be upset when monsters are allowed access to school children. There isn’t anyone who shouldn’t be upset by this — school district included.
