Gurnee Mills rape suspect: sex was consensual

Richard Gallatin said Wednesday that he got into trouble for being too honest with a new friend.

Gallatin, 38, took the stand in the second day of his trial, where he is accused of kidnapping a 19-year-old Grayslake woman from the Gurnee Mills parking lot and forcing her to drive to Kane County where he raped her.

His accuser is the one who suggested they have sex in the back seat of her car, Gallatin said, then became angry when he told her afterward she should be checked for a sexually-transmitted disease.

He is charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Gallatin, who was living at a campground in the Chain O' Lakes State Park at the time of the June 5, 2010 event, said he had spent that day at Gurnee Mills and was looking for a ride to Woodstock as the mall began to close down.

As the woman came out of the mall, Gallatin said, he asked her for a ride to a Grayslake grocery store and she agreed to take him there. He said he told her he was planning to walk to Woodstock that night, and she offered to drive him there after giving him $40 she withdrew from her bank account.

The woman became lost on her way to Woodstock because of construction detours near Route 47, Gallatin said, and they wound up in Kane County by mistake. They pulled into a church parking lot in Campton Hills in an attempt to find their way back to Woodstock, Gallatin said, and it was there that they had sex.

She then agreed to drive him to Des Plaines, Gallatin said, but she became angry when he told her about the sexually-transmitted disease and dropped him off at a convenience store in Forest Park.

The woman, however, testified Tuesday that Gallatin forced his way into her car by holding what she thought was a gun to her neck. He demanded that she drive to the bank and withdraw the money after he discovered she only had $2 with her, the woman testified.

Gallatin then ordered her to drive west on Route 120, the woman said, and never told her where they were going.

The woman testified Gallatin forced her to have sex, then drive him to the convenience store. She said she reported the kidnapping and rape to police that night.

An arrest warrant was issued for Gallatin, after DNA taken from her clothing and body was matched to his profile in the national database of convicted felons. Gallatin was convicted of child molestation in Wisconsin in 2003.

Closing arguments in the in Lake County circuit court case are expected Thursday, and Gallatin faces up to 100 years in prison if convicted.