GUILDERLAND — A man arrested for sex crimes in the past was arrested last Thursday, police say, after he "inappropriately touched" a five-year-old boy at Crossgates Mall.

William J. Coleman III, 48, of 471 Maybie Road, Gilboa, was charged on Aug. 18 with first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.
Guilderland Police say that, after 4 p.m. last Thursday, they received a call that a man "engaged in inappropriate touching" with a young boy in a bathroom at the mall.

The boy’s mother waited for her son outside the men’s room, on the mall’s lower level, near the entrance to Houlihan’s restaurant, Guilderland Lieutenant Curtis Cox said.

The boy came out of the bathroom and pointed to Coleman, Cox said. The boy told his mother that Coleman touched him, Cox said.

The mother confronted Coleman and a mall security guard detained him until police arrived, Cox said.

Coleman was then arrested and arraigned in Guilderland Town Court. He was remanded to Albany County’s jail.

Coleman was arrested in the past for rape and sodomy in another town, Cox said. However, he said, he does not know if Coleman was convicted of those crimes.

The boy, Cox said, has been offered counseling through the Guilderland Police.