Sentences announced in two Hardin County child rape cases

Two Hardin County men have been sentenced in separate child rape cases, the office of 24th Judicial District Attorney General Neil Thompson said Wednesday.
According to the office, Andrew Hilmar Sanchez, 36, of Savannah, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Hardin County Circuit Court to three felony counts of rape of a child. As a result of the plea agreement, he will serve 60 years in state prison at 100%.
Sanchez raped three minors in his home from 2016 to 2018 while he was babysitting them, according to information presented in court. He was first indicted in 2020 by a Hardin County Grand Jury, and the indictment was superseded in 2023 to include 31 counts of child sexual abuse-related crimes, the office said.
The Sanchez case was investigated by the Savannah Police Department, the District Attorney General’s Office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and FBI. Assistant District Attorneys General Morgan Reynolds and Shelby Morris prosecuted the case.
The DA’s office reports that in the second case, Kenneth Murphy, 42, of Olive Hill, was sentenced in Circuit Court on Nov. 4 to serve 30 years at 100% for rape of a child and incest. Murphy was convicted by a Hardin County jury on March 26.
According to information presented in court, Murphy raped a relative temporarily in his care in 2019. He was indicted by a Hardin County Grand Jury in 2020.
The Murphy case was investigated by the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Reynolds.
Circuit Judge J. Brent Bradberry presided over both cases.