A troubling case in Colorado has sparked concern over justice and public safety. A transgender sex offender accused of attempting to kidnap a child may soon walk free.
According to Breitbart News, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Colorado is planning to drop charges against 33-year-old Solomon Galligan. Galligan was charged with attempted kidnapping after an incident at Black Forest Hills Elementary School in Aurora last April.
The suspect allegedly entered the school’s playfield and tried to grab a young boy, sending other children running in fear. This isn’t Galligan’s first brush with the law; a prior conviction for nonconsensual groping already had him registered as a sex offender with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.
Video footage captured the chilling moment Galligan stepped onto the playfield, a space meant for innocence and play. The sight of children scattering in panic paints a stark picture of the threat felt that day.
Shortly after, a parent spotted the suspect at a nearby Walgreens, leading to a swift arrest by Aurora law enforcement. When approached by officers, Galligan claimed to be a victim of assault and requested hospital care, a puzzling deflection given the circumstances.
Booked into jail on a $25,000 cash or surety bond, the suspect’s past and present actions raised immediate red flags. Old photos reportedly show Galligan wearing heavy makeup, a detail that adds to the unsettling profile of someone with a documented history of predatory behavior.
Following the arrest, Galligan underwent a competency evaluation, with results that many find deeply frustrating. The DA’s office confirmed in 2024 that he was deemed incompetent to stand trial.
“We are planning to drop charges against the defendant, which is required by law when they are found mentally incompetent to stand trial,” the DA’s office told Fox 31. While the legal reasoning may hold under current statutes, it’s hard to swallow that someone with such a record could evade accountability on these grounds.
The ruling prioritizes procedure over the palpable fear felt by a community and the safety of its children. If laws bind us to release individuals who pose clear risks, then perhaps it’s time to rethink those laws with urgency and common sense.
The attempted kidnapping at an elementary school isn’t just a single, isolated event; it’s a warning siren for broader systemic failures. Galligan’s prior conviction for groping should have been a loud enough signal to keep a closer watch.
Journalist Andy Ngô noted on social media that Galligan is transgender and began cross-sex hormones as early as 2011, a detail that doesn’t change the core issue but adds layers to public discourse. What matters most isn’t personal identity but whether the system can protect the vulnerable from repeat offenders, regardless of background.
Dropping charges may comply with legal mandates around mental competency, but it leaves parents and neighbors with a bitter taste of injustice. How does a community rest easy knowing someone accused of targeting a child could be back on the streets?
This case cuts to the heart of a frustrating dilemma: balancing mental health considerations with the primal need to shield our kids. Legal loopholes shouldn’t mean open doors for potential danger to walk through unchecked.
If Galligan is released, what safeguards are in place to prevent another incident at a school or playground? The DA’s hands may be tied by law, but lawmakers and local leaders must step up to close gaps that let predators slip through on technicalities.
Aurora’s families deserve better than a system that seems more concerned with procedural checkboxes than the raw fear of a child running from a stranger. Let this be a call to tighten oversight of registered offenders and push for reforms that put public safety first, not as an afterthought.
