A disturbing video captures the moment a transgender sex offender allegedly tried to steal one of his children from a Colorado elementary school, leaving them screaming and running away in terror.
Surveillance footage that led to the arrest of suspect Solomon Galligan, 33, was made available for the first time Monday to the families of the children involved in the horrific ordeal last Friday at Black Forest Hills Elementary School in Aurora. According to CBS Colorado.
“It was tough. It was really tough,” Dante White, one of the parents, said of watching the footage that surprisingly proved he wasn’t exaggerating how scared his child was. Told.
“That’s something to be afraid of as a parent.”
The footage shows a person carrying a blanket walking next to a fence as more than a dozen young students play innocently outside during recess.
As the suspected kidnapper ran toward the children, the children ran away screaming “strangers are dangerous,” according to previously released documents.
The footage then shows an adult approaching one of the children and stumbling as he pounces on the child with a white blanket. Police documents say the suspect was actually holding on to the child, but only lost his grip when he fell.
A teacher’s assistant yelled at the suspect, but the suspect fled when another suspect approached.
Mr. Galligan, who identified himself as a man, was arrested at a nearby Walgreens and charged with one count of attempted kidnapping. The kidnapped boy told police he smelled of alcohol and that he had white powder smeared on his face at the time of the incident.
Galligan was convicted of nonconsensual sexual contact and was registered as a sex offender in 2011, according to his latest arrest affidavit, which does not elaborate on the incident.
That same year, Galligan revealed on social media that she suffered from depression while taking male hormones as part of her transition. His family claimed that his recent legal woes were caused by mental health issues, according to CBS Colorado.
The district released the video while pledging to investigate and improve safety protocols.
“We are conducting a thorough investigation. We are looking into exactly what happened and what happened afterward. We consider safety as our top priority,” CCSD said. said spokeswoman Lauren Snell.
White said the district “admitted fault” and “apologized” during Monday’s meeting with parents, but said that was not enough.
“We want an independent investigation. We want people to be put on leave and fired,” the father told CBS Colorado.
“This is scary as a parent. They are being cared for by adults who are supposed to be trained professionals, but they weren’t. From site management to Cherry Creek management to the head of security. They failed across the board,” White said.
“We want accountability.”
The suspect, identified in the arrest affidavit as a man, shared news about his transformation on Facebook in 2011.
“So I’m starting hormone injections and I can’t wait to start taking them, I’ve been on them for almost 4 months now and I wake up depressed and crying, but in the end it’s all worth it. There’s, you know, I’m really excited. My measurements are already changing and I’m so excited,” he wrote.
Galligan is a registered sex offender and was convicted of nonconsensual sexual contact the same year, according to his latest arrest affidavit.
Details of that 2011 incident were not immediately clear.
Galligan is being held in the Aurora Jail on $25,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
