Hammond man gets 80 years for child molesting

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A Hammond man got 80 years Friday for two counts of child molesting.

A jury convicted Andres “Andy” Guerra, 48, last month. He said he is innocent and would appeal.

Authorities alleged he first started fondling a preteen girl around 2013. Later, the victim alleged that Guerra’s ex-girlfriend Stephanie Alvarado joined in the sexual abuse, which stopped in October 2015.

His current wife Mellissa Guerra, a Hammond school board member, said she hoped one day he would be “exonerated.” She married him and had a daughter, believing the accusations were false.

“I know he is innocent,” she said, while tearful on the stand.

She would work to clear “his name, no matter how long it takes.”

Her friend, Michaela Spangenburg, a psychologist, told Judge