Hayes gets 15-year prison term for failure to register

A Louisiana man was sentenced to 15 years in prison at hard labor Tuesday, November 10, 2026, for sex crimes involving children.

Caddo District Judge Donald E. Hathaway Jr. meted out the prison term, to be served at hard labor without benefit or probation, parole or reduction of sentence, to Micah Timothy Sandell, 23, of Anacoco. Sandell pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse materials on September 11, 2026. The plea occurred just before his jury trial was to commence. Sentencing was left to the discretion of the court. 

In September 2024, possible child sexual abuse material was detected on a cloud account. This followed a March 2024 cyber tip from DropBox of photos of that nature. A warrant was issued and the IP address was traced to Sandell's residence and an email address. 

Once detained, Sandell admitted to illegal images on his Kik account, as well as to other such cloud images, found to have images of people under age 17 in sexual acts or poses.

Upon release from prison, Sandell must register a sex offender for 25 years.  

Assistant District Attorney Stephen Folk-Cruthirds prosecuted Sandell, who was defended by the Caddo Public Defenders office. 

The case was docket No. 404765.