Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala is investigating claims on behalf of survivors who may have been harmed by Sydney Mills, a former officer with the Saugerties Police Department in Ulster County, New York. On September 2, 2026, Mills was sentenced to five years in state prison followed by ten years of post-release supervision for the sexual abuse of a child under the age of 15. He will be required to register as a sex offender.

Mills, 54, was arrested on July 14, 2025 following a months-long investigation that began when the Saugerties Police Department received a tip. According to the department’s own public statement, an officer received information about the situation and reported it directly to the chief of police, who then worked with Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji on an independent investigation.

Investigators determined that between April and October of 2022, Mills repeatedly raped and sexually abused a girl who was 14 years old when the abuse began. He was a full-time Saugerties police officer at the time. An Ulster County grand jury returned a five-count indictment charging second-degree criminal sexual act against a victim under 15, criminal sexual act against a victim under 17 by a person over 21, two counts of third-degree rape of a person incapable of consent, and a misdemeanor count of third-degree sexual abuse.

On June 15, 2026, Mills pleaded guilty in Ulster County Court to second-degree criminal sexual act, a felony, admitting in open court that he committed the offense in 2022 while employed as a police officer. The remaining four counts were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Judge Bryan Rounds imposed sentence on September 2, 2026. Mills has been jailed since his arrest, and that time counts toward the five-year term.

At sentencing, the survivor described Mills as a man she had once trusted as a father figure, and said she stayed silent for more than a year because he had threatened violence if anyone learned what he had done.

One detail from the sentencing hearing matters a great deal to any civil case. The survivor stated that abuse occurred while Mills was in full police uniform, wearing his duty belt and service weapon.

That is not incidental. When a police officer uses the uniform, the badge, and the authority the public grants him to gain access to a child and to keep her silent, the harm is not separable from the job. It raises direct questions about the department that issued that uniform, about how Mills was hired and supervised, and about whether any concern was ever raised and left unaddressed.

The Mills prosecution was not an isolated event for Saugerties. Earlier in 2025, a different former Saugerties officer, Dion Johnson, pleaded guilty to charges including official misconduct and second-degree criminal trespass following a September 2024 indictment. Two days after Mills was arrested, the Saugerties Town Board issued a formal statement acknowledging that an officer’s arrest damages public trust and committing to stricter accountability and continued oversight of local police operations.

The investigation into Mills also led to the discovery of unrelated abuse elsewhere in the community. A former Saugerties High School wrestling coach, Reid Kappler, pleaded guilty in January 2026 to three counts of third-degree rape involving conduct in 2023, and was sentenced to six and a half years in state prison. His crimes came to light during the Mills investigation.

A criminal sentence resolves the state’s case. It does not resolve what a survivor is owed. A civil claim is a separate action, brought by the survivor rather than by a prosecutor, and it is the only route to compensation for counseling and treatment, lost opportunity, and the long-term effects of abuse.

A guilty plea also strengthens a civil case considerably, because the central factual question has already been answered by the person’s own admission in open court.

Civil claims can reach beyond the individual. When an officer uses the access and credibility that come with a badge to harm a child, the question becomes whether the employing agency knew or should have known of a risk, and whether its hiring, supervision, and complaint-handling practices met the standard the law requires. Those questions get answered through civil discovery, not through a criminal sentencing.

New York gives survivors of childhood sexual abuse a considerably longer window to file than most other claims allow, but the specific deadline depends on the survivor’s age, the dates involved, and whether a public entity is a defendant. Those rules are worth confirming with an attorney early rather than assuming a case is too old or too late.

One survivor came forward in this case, and her decision to do so also brought a second offender to account. In cases involving law enforcement, others frequently stay silent, often because of the authority the person held, or because they were told no one would believe them. If you believe you, your child, or someone you know may have been harmed by Sydney Mills during his time with the Saugerties Police Department, PCVA can talk with you privately about your options.

There is no cost to speak with us, the conversation is confidential, and there is no obligation to move forward.