GUILDERLAND — James C. Hockenbury, 49, of Guilderland Center, turned down a plea deal on Wednesday that would have sent him to prison for 12 years for a criminal sex act with a 3-year-old boy.

Hockenbury gave a lengthy statement to police on April 19, describing the oral sex act that prosecutors and police say occurred on April 16 at the grounds of the Westmere Elementary School on a weekend day when Hockenbury was babysitting for an Albany family.

Hockenbury’s attorney, Mark Sacco of Sacco Tyner, told The Enterprise on Wednesday that the Albany County District Attorney’s Office had offered “about 12 years,” but that his client had turned it down because “we don’t believe there is sufficient evidence to warrant a sentence like that.”

In the courtroom, Judge Peter Lynch said that the rejection of the offer places the matter on track for a trial.

Asked later if Hockenbury plans to take the matter to trial, Sacco said, “At this step, we are going to file motions. Then we’ll see where we are.”

In his statement, Hockenbury said he had paused to urinate on school grounds, when the 3-year-old approached; Hockenbury asked if he wanted to touch and lick his penis, and the boy briefly did both, the statement said.

Prosecuting the case is Assistant District Attorney Jennifer McCanney of the Special Victims Unit.

Hockenbury has had a 30-year career working with children, including at the University at Albany’s UKids Child Care Center, at Guilderland’s Maple Leaf Child Care, as a Guilderland town camp counselor, and as a monitor for three different Guilderland elementary schools: Pine Bush, Guilderland, and, most recently, Lynnwood. He and his wife, Debbie, had also previously run a day-care center out of their home.

Hockenbury remains free on $75,000 bail.