A former Lynden High School wrestling coach and security guard was sentenced to six months in jail Jan. 24 for third-degree rape of a former student.
Santos Rodriguez Gallegos, 51, pleaded guilty in Whatcom County Superior Court Nov. 28, 2023, to one count of rape, having been charged originally in January 2021 with two counts of third-degree rape and three counts of assault with sexual motivation.
Third-degree rape, involving sexual intercourse without the victim’s consent, is a class C felony with a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The six-month sentence was at the low end of the 6-to-12-month standard sentencing range for a defendant with no significant criminal history, prosecutor Benjamin Pratt said in an email.
Gallegos’ only other conviction, according to a court-filed pre-sentence investigation, was in 2000 for driving with a suspended license.
Bellingham attorney Adrian Madrone, who represented Gallegos, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Gallegos began serving his sentence at the Work Center on Division Street on Wednesday, Jan. 31, according to jail records. He will remain under community supervision for a year after completing his six-month jail term.
Court documents state Gallegos attended a party on Dec. 12, 2020 with three former members of Lynden High School’s girls wrestling team. At the party, Gallegos walked into a bathroom at the residence while it was occupied by one of his former students.
Then, according to court records, Gallegos bent down and kissed the victim’s genitals. Later that evening, in a hot tub, Gallegos touched the former student’s genitals with his hand. Both acts were without the woman’s consent, according to court filings.
The victim reported the incident to police and a former Lynden High School teacher. The teacher informed then-assistant superintendent David VanderYacht, who has since been promoted to district superintendent.
At a meeting with VanderYacht in the days after the incident, Gallegos agreed to resign from his position rather than face an internal investigation. He was working as a security guard at the high school at the time, and he had “regular interactions with students,” a court document stated.
Gallegos was instrumental in starting the girls wrestling team at Lynden High School in 2011, the Lynden Tribune reported.
Ralph Schwartz is a former CDN local government reporter; send tips and information to newstips@cascadiadaily.com.
