A transgender man allegedly tried to kidnap a child at an elementary school in Colorado, and police said that he was a registered sex offender.
The Aurora Police Department said officers were called to the Black Forest Hills Elementary School on Friday over the incident.
Investigators say 33-year-old Solomon Galligan got onto school property and approached a group of children. He allegedly tried to grab a young boy before fleeing from the school. Police are unsure what prompted him to leave on his own.
He was later arrested by police and charged with attempted kidnapping. Galligan is being held at the Aurora Detention Center on a $25,000 bond.
The mother of the child Galligan allegedly tried to kidnap spoke to KCNC-TV about the boy.
“This has changed his life forever, and my life,” said Miranda Ayala. “He was touched by somebody else who walked up onto a field at school at recess with other adults that should’ve been taking care of my son.”
She says that her child told police he smelled like alcohol and had a white powder on his face.
Other parents told KCNC that they were upset at the school for not being as transparent as it should have been to the parents about the incident.
School officials tried to reassure parents in an email saying they had increased security at the elementary school.
“We take all safety concerns very seriously and have launched an investigation into the incident that happened Friday,” read a statement from a school spokesperson. “We are committed to being transparent and accountable to our community, and the school is in communication with families.”
Ayala says that the school officials who were supposed to protecting the children were distracted by their phones. They were alerted by other children yelling, “Stranger danger!”
“It was these kids who saved my son’s life,” she added.
The Daily Mail reported that Galligan had documented his gender transition in 2012.
‘So I’m starting my hormone shots and I really can’t wait I’m on my hormone pills I’ve been on them for almost 4 months,’ Galligan wrote at the time.
He had been convicted of nonconsensual sexual contact in Denver and failed to register as a sex offender.
Here’s a local news report about the incident:
Also Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celebrity News
