Suspect in Gurnee Mills abduction, rape pleads not guilty

A Wisconsin man accused of kidnapping a woman from the Gurnee Mills parking lot and raping her pleaded not guilty Thursday in Lake County circuit court.

Because of a prior sexual assault conviction in his home state of Wisconsin, Richard Gallatin, 37, faces a mandatory life prison sentence if convicted of the June 5 attack.

Assistant State's Attorney Steven Derue said Gallatin, whose last known address is in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., approached the victim around 9:20 p.m. as she was walking to her car.

Implying he had a gun, Gallatin forced the woman into her car and ordered her to drive to an automated teller machine in Grayslake where she withdrew $40 from her bank account, Derue said.

Gallatin then had the woman drive to Campton Hills in Kane County, where Derue said he raped her in a church parking lot.

Derue said Gallatin then had the woman drive to a convenience store in Forest Park, where he got out of the car.

The woman drove back to Lake County and reported the attack, and Gallatin was arrested three weeks later at a campground at Chain O' Lakes State Park in Spring Grove.

Gallatin he is charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery.

At the time of the attack, Gallatin was on parole in Wisconsin for a 2003 conviction for first-degree sexual assault of a child.

Derue said because of that conviction, Gallatin will be prosecuted under an Illinois law that mandates a life prison sentence for anyone convicted of two or more sexual assaults.

He is being held on $1 million bond and is due to appear in court again Aug. 17.