WBRZ - Baton Rouge

ST. FRANCISVILLE - A state district judge has sentenced a Clinton man to life in prison after his conviction July 17 for aggravated rape of a girl under the age of 13 on his school bus.

William Staton's sentencing was delayed until Thursday.

District Judge William G. Carmichael held two earlier hearings on whether some jurors' guilty votes were influenced by Staton's decision not to testify on his own behalf.

Carmichael upheld the verdict in December.

41-year-old Staton was accused of raping the girl in the summer of 2007 in East Feliciana Parish, but the trial was moved to West Feliciana Parish, in part, because Staton was a former police officer and firefighter.