Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A South Bend man was sentenced to 1-1/2 years in prison after attempting to kidnap a child under the age of 14 from a Warsaw school.
Marco Sanchez-Hernandez, 21, South Bend, was charged with attempted kidnapping, a level 5 felony; and possession of child sexual abuse materials and obstruction of justice, both level 6 felonies.
Sanchez-Hernandez was sentenced in Kosciusko Superior Court III on Tuesday, Jan. 13.
Sanchez-Hernandez’s defense attorney, John Barrett, presented a plea agreement to Superior Court III Judge Chad Miner. The plea agreement requested for all three charges to be served concurrently and that the sentence be a maximum of six years, with a maximum of 1-1/2 served in custody and the remainder suspended on probation.
A no-contact order with the victim remains in effect.
Barrett admitted there were “… not a lot of mitigating factors other than lack of criminal history.”
Barrett presented the argument that there was “another agency” who had placed a hold on Sanchez-Hernandez, which meant there was “no benefit to keep him here.”
Miner responded that he felt the severity of the crime required an appropriate punishment. Given Sanchez-Hernandez’s hold from “another agency,” Miner did acknowledge, “I do not believe he will be available to be on probation.”
Miner sentenced Sanchez-Hernandez to 1-1/2 years for attempted kidnapping; one year for possession of child sexual abuse materials; and one year for obstruction of justice. Because these are to be served concurrently, he will serve 1-1/2 years in total.
Miner ordered this time to be served at the Kosciusko County Jail. However, Prosecutor Dan Hampton asked whether the Indiana Department of Correction would be more appropriate given the “other agency” that had a hold on Sanchez-Hernandez. Miner agreed and changed Sanchez-Hernandez’s sentence to be served at DOC and not at the jail.
Affidavit Of Probable Cause
On Sept. 26, 2025, a school resource officer at Edgewood Middle School was made aware of a man, later identified as Sanchez-Hernandez, attempting to pick up a 13-year-old student. Sanchez-Hernandez told school staff that he was the child’s family member. Staff determined that Sanchez-Hernandez was not on the list of authorized people to pick the child up. School staff contacted the child’s parent, who said they did not know Sanchez-Hernandez. During the conversation with the parent, Sanchez-Hernandez asked the parent if he could take the child out for ice cream. The parent said no to this request.
The child said they started messaging Sanchez-Hernandez on TikTok on Sept. 25 and believed Sanchez-Hernandez was 18.
On Sept. 30, officers searched Sanchez-Hernandez’s and the child’s cellphones. Sanchez-Hernandez had told the child to delete all of their messages and photos, so they would not get in trouble.
Officers also found in Sanchez-Hernandez’s cellphone’s image history, child sexual assault material of an unknown, underage individual.
