Career Criminal Gets Life for Cruelty to a Juvenile

District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that Larry Bickham (60) of Slidell was sentenced Monday (April 17) to life in prison. Bickham, who had more than 10 prior felony convictions and four misdemeanor convictions, was on probation in 2014, when he exposed his 17-month-old daughter to cocaine, which landed her in a hospital emergency room.

Bickham was found guilty last November of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and simple cruelty to a juvenile for allowing the victim to be present during the manufacturing, distribution, or purchasing of cocaine. District Judge William J. Burris sentenced Bickham under the state’s habitual offender law, which increases penalties, to life in prison without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on the second-degree cruelty charge and 30 years on the simple cruelty charge. The sentences are to be served at the same time.
The toddler was rushed to the emergency room at Oschsner Hospital in Slidell on May 1, 2014 and tested positive for cocaine. Witnesses testified during the trial that Bickham used his home to cook and sell crack cocaine, while the child lived with him.