Man gets 120 years for ‘terrifying and horrible crime’ at Gurnee Mills
By Beth Kramer Sun-Times Media May 19, 2011 8:30PM
Richard Gallatin
Updated: August 28, 2011 12:22AM
A Wisconsin man was sentenced Thursday to the maximum penalty possible for abducting a woman at Gurnee Mills and robbing and sexually assaulting her — a crime a Lake County judge called “pure evil.”
Richard Gallatin, 38, was sentenced to 120 years in prison for the attack that began with the abduction of a 19-year-old Grayslake woman from the parking lot of the far north suburban shopping mall June 5, 2010.
“There is no excuse for what this court heard. This is positively a terrifying and horrible crime,” said Associate Judge George Bridges. “Your actions are appalling.”
A jury convicted Gallatin of aggravated criminal sexual assault, kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated criminal sexual assault after about two hours of deliberation in April.
Gallatin had told the victim he knew he was going to get caught and did not have anything to lose, prosecutor Ken LaRue said. Gallatin forced the woman to drive him to an ATM to withdraw $40, then forced her to drive to a remote location where he sexually assaulted her.
As a result of the crime, the victim has struggled with her first semester in college and contracted a sexually transmitted disease, LaRue said.
Bridges also pointed out that the assault occurred less than 30 days after Gallatin was released from a Wisconsin prison. Gallatin pleaded no contest to attempted criminal sexual assault of a child in a 2003 case.
In that incident, Gallatin, while intoxicated, had two underage females remove their pajamas while he was baby-sitting at a Wisconsin home.
Gallatin displayed no outward signs of emotion or reaction during the sentencing hearing Thursday. He declined his right to make a statement, saying only that he has “nothing to say.”
