COVINGTON - A prosecutor says a St. Tammany Parish jury has convicted a 60-year-old Slidell man of cruelty to his 17-month-old daughter, who was exposed to cocaine.

District Attorney Warren Montgomery said in a statement Monday that Larry Bickham's sentencing is scheduled Jan. 20 on charges of simple and second-degree cruelty to a juvenile. The verdict came Friday.

Montgomery says Bickham's daughter tested positive for cocaine at an emergency room in 2014. The prosecutor said witnesses testified they'd used other drugs with the man and the girl's mother while the child was home. He says the mother later left Bickham and their child.

A babysitter testified she took the girl to the emergency room because of a possible seizure.

Bickham's attorneys argued the babysitter was trying to help the mother get custody.