REDDITCH SEX OFFENDER GALLEN CONVICTED FOR ABUSE OF BOY
A man from Redditch, who is currently serving a nine-year prison term for abusing young girls, has been found guilty of engaging in sexual acts with a five-year-old boy.Michael Gallen, aged 53 and formerly residing on South Street in Smallwood, had denied committing unlawful sexual intercourse with the young boy.
Prosecutor Stephen Redmond explained that the abuse occurred in the early 1970s when Gallen was approximately 20 years old, and the victim was only five.
The now-older man, in his late 30s, testified to the jury that Gallen had held him down with a knee and began to act inappropriately, pulling down his trousers.
He recounted, “He put his head to mine and told me to be quiet or he would do me harm,” before assaulting him sodomously.
When asked how long the assault lasted, he described it as feeling like “a long time.” The former victim stated that, following the incident, his behavior changed significantly, eventually leading to issues with law enforcement as he matured.
He did not disclose the cause of his behavioral changes until April of the previous year, after learning Gallen was detained for offenses involving four young girls.
In May last year, Gallen received a nine-year sentence and was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
He pled guilty to nine counts of indecent assault on girls aged six to nine, committed between 1982 and 2005, and admitted to three additional counts of indecency with a child, involving at least one of the girls.
He was also convicted of possessing four indecent images of children.
The jury deliberated for just 80 minutes before rejecting Gallen’s claims of innocence, and the court, having considered his past convictions, remanded him in custody prior to sentencing.
