NEW SCOTLAND — New Scotland resident Joshua Spratt, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree criminal sexual act, a felony, to Judge Thomas A. Breslin in Albany County Supreme Court on Oct. 8.

In July, Spratt, a Watervliet police officer, was charged with four counts of a third-degree criminal sexual act, all felonies; two counts of official misconduct, and endangering the welfare of a minor, all misdemeanors.

The guilty plea was in full satisfaction of several criminal sexual acts, and a charge of official misconduct, according to a statement from the Albany County District Attorney’s office.
His arrest came two months after Watervliet’s school superintendent called the Watervliet Police with concerns about Spratt, who was stationed at the high school; he was charged with criminal sexual acts against female students.
Between Feb. 14 and April 10, Spratt engaged in four separate sexual acts with a 16-year-old girl in Watervliet and in Menands, the district attorney’s office said.
When he is sentenced on Jan. 7, 2016, Spratt will face six months in the county jail, to be followed by 10 years of felony probation. He will be required to register as a sex offender, and abide by a no-contact order of protection.
Andrew Safranko, of Clifton Park, Spratt’s lawyer, told The Enterprise in June that people should withhold judgment until all the facts come out.

“He was a dedicated and devoted officer in Watervliet for over 10 years, loved within and without the department,” Safranko said then. “He was a veteran of the National Guard with two deployments — one in the United States at Fort Drum and the other in Iraq. He’s spent his whole life protecting people.”

Spratt is married with three children and lives on New Scotland Road in Slingerlands, his lawyer said.
Safranko did not return calls this week before press time.