DA: Former Saratoga County Sheriff's deputy admits to multiple child sexual abuse acts; To get 16 years

PHOTOGRAPHER: File Photo

Steven E. Willetts

BALLSTON SPA – A former Saratoga County sheriff’s deputy admitted Wednesday he sexually abused a child under the age of 13 over the course of more than two years, Saratoga County District Attorney’s officials said.

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Steven E. Willetts, of Second Avenue, Waterford, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child.

He admitted that he engaged in multiple acts of sexual conduct against a child under the age of 13 over more than two years, prosecutors said.

His plea was taken in satisfaction of multiple crimes committed from March 2009 to January 2020, the time of his arrest. The arrest stemmed from allegations the Sheriff’s Department received that January concerning two victims, police said then. He was arrested the same day as the information came in.

He worked as a sheriff’s deputy. He was suspended at the time of his arrest and then resigned shortly afterward, officials said.

Willetts is to be sentenced Sept. 16 and is expected to receive 16 years in prison.

District Attorney Karen Heggen credited work of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department in gathering the evidence needed that led to Wednesday’s plea.

“Sheriff Zurlo’s team worked tirelessly to identify and uncover the overwhelming evidence in this case which resulted in the defendant’s plea today,” Heggen said in a statement.