A Laurel man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in connection to the 2007 sexual battery of a 12-year-old girl.
Roger Heidelberg, 38, of Laurel was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Billy Joe Landrum to life imprisonment with the Mississippi Department of Corrections as a habitual offender.
It took a Jones County Jury only 20 minutes to return a guilty verdict against Heidelberg Tuesday afternoon at the Jones County Courthouse.
Tuesday’s court proceeding was Heidelberg’s second sexual battery trial in connection with this incident.
Laurel Police Department Detective Kevin Flynn said Heidelberg was charged in November 2007 by LPD in connection with an incident that occurred on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007.
Heidelberg’s first trial in January of this year ended in a 11-1 stalled jury.
Assistant District Attorney J. Ronald Parish, who prosecuted the case, said Tuesday afternoon that he was pleased with the second jury’s outcome.
“I am very glad to get him (Heidelberg) out of society. He’s a sexual predator,” Parish said. “He’s 38 and had sex with a 12 year-old that he thought was his daughter. ... People who commit that kind of act is low.”
Tuesday, two people testified during the trial that they saw Heidelberg having sex with the girl in a bedroom as the door was partially open.
An expert DNA witness from Houston, Texas also testified for the second time Tuesday that the chances of the DNA taken from the girl was from anyone other than Heidelberg was one in 500,000,000.
“I had two eye witnesses, but I didn’t want to take any chances. So, we brought the DNA expert back, who testified again that the DNA extracted from the sperm found in her vagina was from him,” Parish said. “I wanted to make sure we got him this time.”
Parish said Heidelberg was considered a habitual offender because of his previous convictions.
According to officials, Heidelberg had been convicted of a burglary and later convicted on the charge of possession of a weapon by a felon.
“This is his third time going to (the Mississippi State Penitentiary in) Parchman and he should stay this time,” Parish said.
Parish said he has no sympathy for adults “messing with kids.”
“Anyone messing around with kids needs to be really, really nervous,” the assistant district attorney said. “I will do everything I can to make sure they don’t get another shot at it.”
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