A Fayette County man has been sentenced to 139 years in prison for child sex crimes he committed in 2014.
Thomas Joseph Brandlehner was convicted on Oct. 9 in the Superior Court of Fayette County of multiple charges, including child molestation and sexual exploitation of children, and sentenced to 139 years in prison followed by one year of probation.
The conviction follows a four-day trial where Brandlehner was found guilty of two counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, four counts of child molestation, and 15 counts of sexual exploitation of children.
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District Attorney Broder praised the efforts of the jury, law enforcement, and his team, led by Senior Assistant District Attorney Daniel A. Hiatt, stating, “The crimes committed by this man were horrific. I’m so proud of the jury, law enforcement, and my team for working so hard to make sure this defendant was held accountable for his crimes.”
In December 2014, two sisters aged 7 and 10 reported repeated acts of molestation by their neighbor, Brandlehner, to their family babysitter. This led to an investigation by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.
A search warrant executed at Brandlehner’s home resulted in the seizure of multiple computers and storage devices. Forensic digital examinations by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation revealed numerous digital images of child pornography on two hard drives and an external hard drive.
Brandlehner had previously pleaded guilty in 2015, but that conviction was overturned in 2024 due to a legal error in his original sentence.
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