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Second woman tells police man assaulted her

Gallegos

A second woman has gone to police to accuse a Durango man of sexually assaulting her, leading police to believe there may be other victims.

The woman told police that Jeffery Gallegos sexually assaulted her while she was extremely intoxicated about five years ago. She came forward only after reading in The Durango Herald about a similar incident involving Gallegos.

In that incident, Gallegos is suspected of assaulting a 22-year-old woman on April 23, 2013, at the American Legion in Durango, where he worked as a bartender.

He has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and attempted sexual assault in a plea agreement with the 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. He faces anything from probation to 12 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for early December before District Judge William Herringer.

Assistant District Attorney Christian Champaign said the second woman came forward after Gallegos signed the plea agreement in the case involving the 22-year-old woman.

“We didn’t have the benefit of that information when we negotiated that agreement,” he said.

Had Champaign known of other possible victims, he may not have struck the same plea agreement, he said.

“We may have assessed his risk to community safety differently knowing that he had another victim out there, and it may have changed our agreement,” he said.

Champaign said he plans to present the full case as he knows it now to the judge at the sentencing hearing, including letting other possible victims speak at the hearing.

“If there are other people out there, we strongly encourage them to come forward, and they can still make a difference,” Champaign said. “They don’t have to feel like it’s going to go beyond the scope of what they want it to be. We’ll respect their wishes.”

John Moran, Gallegos’ attorney, did not return calls seeking comment.

Durango police Detective Burke Baldwin said he believes the 22-year-old wasn’t Gallegos’s only victim.

“We got anonymous notes, and people coming in telling us about similar things happening to their friends,” he said. “But no one came in and said, ‘This happened to me.’”

This month – 18 months after the American Legion assault – the second woman came forward saying Gallegos drugged her and had sex with her. Prosecutors say the incident falls outside the three-year statute of limitations, so her case cannot be prosecuted. (There is no statute of limitations for sex crimes against children.)

The woman recalled drinking heavily and being “shuffled into a car” from inside the bar, according to an incident report filed Oct. 21.

Baldwin said if anyone has been the victim of sexual assault, police are interested in talking to them – no matter when the assault occurred, or the identity of the assailant.

Apr 28, 2013
Two men accused of sexual assault


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