A judge has sentenced a Laurel man to life without the possibility of parole for sexual battery of a 12-year-old girl.

Roger Heidelberg was sentenced Tuesday by Circuit Court Judge Billy Joe Landrum, who called him a habitual offender.

It took a Jones County Jury only 20 minutes to return a guilty verdict against the 38-year-old Heidelberg Tuesday. It was Heidelberg’s second trial in the case stemming from a 2007 incident.

The jury in the first case deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction.

Assistant District Attorney J. Ronald Parish said Heidelberg is a sexual predator and was previously convicted of burglary and of possession of a weapon by a felon.