Trans sex offender escapes prosecution after trying to kidnap child during elementary school recess

A transgender registered sex offender will escape prosecution after he tried to kidnap a child from a Colorado schoolyard — thanks to a controversial law that has faced criticism from prosecutors and even the suspect’s lawyer.

Solomon Galligan — who now reportedly goes by Carmen — was found by doctors to be mentally incompetent after he allegedly attempted to snatch the 11-year-old boy during recess at Black Forest Hills Elementary School in Aurora in April 2024.

And because the suspected creep can’t be “restored” to competency, according to his evaluation, the judge overseeing Galligan case was left with no choice but to dismiss the charges under a 2024 amendment to the state’s much-maligned competency law.

After years in and out of the criminal justice system, Galligan, 33, now could again find himself back on the streets, Ryan Brackley, who prosecuted the case as the assistant district attorney in Colorado’s 18th Judicial District, told The Post.

And victims and criminal justice advocates alike are sounding the alarm over the threat.

“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,” said Brackley of Colorado’s competency law.

“What we would like to avoid in this case … is the tendency for it to be 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,” he added.

The District Attorney’s office for the 18th district said that Galligan is currently at a treatment center — but by law he can only be involuntarily committed for up to 90 days.

“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,” said a spokesperson for the DA’s office.

The DA’s office contended the “only way” Galligan could be released is if “a licensed professional notates that they believe Galligan is no longer a threat to the public or themselves” during a review of his condition.

Galligan’s defense attorney slammed Colorado’s criminal justice system after their client’s latest diagnosis which prompted the case to be dropped.

“We recognize that there is a broken system in the state of Colorado,” Galligan’s attorney told the court, according to KUSA.

The sex offender’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 roaming the streets.

She said her sibling, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder when he was 16, was deemed unfit to stand trial in his previous cases and wasn’t previously institutionalized because of a shortage of beds in mental-health centers.

And there is still a shortage of beds, Denver7 reported last October.

“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 at the time.

Dante White’s 11-year-old son was playing in the schoolyard when Galligan ran towards the kids.

He said since the attack, his son and the other peers had to undergo therapy for the trauma they experienced.

“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 told The Post that Colorado’s mental health institutions lack “the funding and backing to continue to hold these people,” calling it “a huge oversight” leading to “habitual offenses.”

Aurora Police Association President David Exstrom said the judicial system failed the children Galligan traumatized.

“My heart breaks for the kids that were at that school on the playground that day that they had recently experienced that,” said Exstrom.

“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 announced his gender transition in a 2011 Facebook post and later identified as a woman. That same year he was registered as a sex offender after he was convicted of non-consent sexual contact.

“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,” he wrote at the time.

Chilling surveillance video captured Galligan allegedly running towards students playing in a field just moments before they scattered and screamed, “Stranger danger!”

He then allegedly grabbed one of the youngsters but lost his grip when he tripped on a white blanket he had been carrying, according to a police report.

The young victim later told cops that Galligan had white powder across his face and reeked of alcohol.

Cops found Galligan at a nearby Walgreens after he fled the scene.

Galligan’s defense attorney’s argued that “competency has been an issue” every time he’s faced charges going back to 2007. And he was found “mentally incompetent” during an evaluation after his latest arrest, sparking the court’s action.