New Bedford Man Sentenced For Sexually Abusing Underage Relatives

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — A New Bedford man was sentenced to up to two decades in state prison for sexually molesting five underage children in New Bedford and Fairhaven.

Andres Sanchez, 53, pleaded guilty to indictments charging him with rape of a child - use of force, rape of a child aggravated by age difference, indecent assault and battery on a person under the age of 14, indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14 and assault with intent to rape.

The five juvenile victims considered themselves related to Sanchez, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office. Sanchez was the boyfriend of the grandmother to four of the victims and mother to the eldest victim, who was just 16 at the time of disclosure.

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The sexual assaults occurred between April of 2017 and April of 2020. They all lived together with Sanchez in a New Bedford three-family home. At the time of his arrest, Sanchez was residing in Puerto Rico.

During a sentencing hearing, Assistant District Attorney Casey Smith argued that due to the continuous nature of the sexual assaults on children in his care, Sanchez should serve 25 to 30 years in prison and an additional five years of probation.

He was sentenced to serve 15 to 20 years in state prison, followed by 10 years of probation.