Photo: Nicole Mastrogiannis
Charges against a registered sex offender accused of attempting to kidnap a child from an elementary school are set to be dropped as he's been deemed incompetent to stand trail, prosecutors for Colorado's 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office confirmed to FOX 31 on Friday (July 11).
Solomon Galligan, 33, who is a registered sex offender in Pueblo County, was charged with one count of attempted kidnapping in relation to an incident in which he allegedly tried to take an 11-year-old boy during recess at Black Forest Hills Elementary School in April 2024. Galligan underwent a mental competency evaluation after his arrest, which determined that he was unfit to stand trial, with prosecutors claiming they had no choice but to drop the charges despite the suspect chasing after and grabbing the child as other students ran away in video footage.
“It’s super scary to watch,” said Dante White, whose child encountered the suspect, via FOX 31. “Especially seeing the perpetrator, the pictures of him. I would be freaked out if that guy touched me. It was an attempted kidnapping.”
Black Forest Hills Elementary School parents submitted a 10-page letter to Cherry Creek School District officials demanding for an independent review of how the situation was handled by the school. An investigation was launched and resulted in Black Forest Hills Elementary School Principal Amanda Replogle being replaced.
“The information obtained through this investigation has led us to decide that we need to make an administrative change at Black Forest Hills,” the district said in a previous statement sent to FOX 31. “We are making that change now so that we can move forward with the final weeks of the school year in a positive and productive way.”