Parents in a Colorado community are outraged after a transgender sex offender allegedly tried to kidnap an elementary schooler during recess after entering the property without a problem.
Surveillance footage obtained by CBS News shows an individual police believe to be 33-year-old Solomon Galligan entering the playfield at Black Forest Hills Elementary School in Aurora on the afternoon of April 22 and approaching the children.
Galligan, who was convicted of “nonconsensual grabbing, touching, or groping another’s intimate body parts” in 2011 according to the Daily Mail, then tried to grab a potential victim, a boy, who ran away.
The alleged predator then tripped and fell over a towel before lunging at another child, Aurora Police said in an affidavit.
Witnesses told police that the kids began yelling “stranger danger,” prompting Galligan to leave the campus.
The child the man allegedly lunged at reported that “he had white powder on his face and smelled of alcohol.”
Social media posts from 2011 viewed by the outlet show Galligan documenting a gender transition.
“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,” one post read.
“I wake up all depressed and crying but in the end its gonna be totally worth it you know what I mean I’m really excited my measurements are already changing and I’m super thrilled.”
Old photos of Galligan appear to show him wearing light, powder-like makeup.
The suspected trespasser was spotted at a nearby Walgreens by a parent shortly after the incident, leading to his arrest.
When police approached Galligan in the store, he reportedly claimed to have been a victim of assault and asked to be transported to a hospital.
A background check conducted by law enforcement showed he was a registered sex offender.
Galligan was booked into the Arapahoe County Jail on second-degree kidnapping under a $25,000 cash or surety bond.
Although he’s currently off the streets, parents of Black Forest Hills Elementary School aren’t satisfied with the campus security or the faculty’s safety awareness.
After viewing the surveillance footage for the first time at a school meeting on Monday, the parents were understandably shocked.
“We hope that children embellish a little bit, but the footage there showed exactly what was stated. It was hard. It was really hard,” Dante White said.
While school officials have apologized, White says they must do more to stop this from happening again.
“We’ve prescribed a couple of items that we wanted done,” he said. “We want an independent investigation of it, we want people put on administrative leave, we want people fired.”
Several parents have also requested “safety training, additional fencing around the school, and more surveillance equipment, according to CBS News,” the Daily Mail said.
“‘This is something that you fear as a parent. They’re in the custody of adults that are supposed to be trained professionals, and they weren’t. They categorically failed across the board, from the administration on site to the administration at Cherry Creek to the heads of security,’ White added.”
“We’re asking for accountability.”
Cherry Creek School District officials said an investigation is taking place.
“We are doing a thorough investigation. We’re looking at exactly what happened and what transpired afterwards as well. We take safety as a high priority,” district representative Lauren Snell said.