Man Accused Of Enticing Children Pleads 'No Contest'

Kevin Gallagher -- the Mentor man who is suspected of trying to lure a group of children into the woods and threatening to sexually assault one of them -- pleaded no contest to charges of aggravated menacing and enticing children Monday morning in Mentor Municipal Court.

A no-contest plea is when a defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge.

Judge John Trebets found Gallagher guilty and sentenced him to 360 days in Lake County Jail -- the most he could give him.

However, Gallagher will receive credit for the 71 days he has already served since he was arrested July 13. That means he still has 289 days left to serve in jail.

Gallagher, 53, of Mentor, will also continue to receive counseling as part of his sentence.

Gallagher was arrested in July when four children, ranging in age from six to 10, were playing near a wooded area on Noble Court in the Western Reserve condos.

Gallagher was in the woods. He told the children he was looking for his cell phone and asked for their help, police said.

The kids agreed. Then Gallagher suggested they split up to cover more ground. He took one 8-year-old boy with him while the other kids looked elsewhere.

The boy urinated while in the woods and Gallagher watched him, police said. Then Gallagher took off his shirt and began to take off his pants.

The boy later told police that Gallagher threatened to rape him, police said. However, Gallagher told police that he told the child he wasn't going to rape him.

Meanwhile, the mother of two of the children noticed the kids had left the hose on. She went outside and called for the kids, including the 8-year-old boy.

They all ran back to the woman and told her what had happened. She called police who later found Gallagher at a friend's nearby house and arrested him.

As part of his sentence, Gallagher has been ordered to stay away from the children.