A Sharkey County man was sentenced to spend two decades in prison for sexually assaulting two preteens.

Johnnie Claudberry Ross, 25, 57 Mat Road, Cary, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of sexual battery.

Circuit Judge M. James Chaney sentenced Ross to 20 years in prison followed by five year’s probation, a $2,000 fine and court costs. Ross must also register as a sex offender.

“We take any crime against the children of our community very seriously. Especially those regarding sexual abuse. We demand lengthy prison sentences in such cases and are very pleased to see that this defendant will spend a considerable number of years incarcerated in the Mississippi Department of Corrections,” District Attorney Ricky Smith said.

Ross sexually assaulted two girls March 11, 2014, Vicksburg Police Capt. Sandra Williams said. He was visiting a home in Vicksburg the night the assault happened, Williams said.

“Ross came to the residence, and they allowed him to come in and sleep,” she said.

Rather than sleeping, Ross molested the girls who had been asleep on the floor of the living room, Williams said.

The girls — ages 7 and 8 — immediately told their mother about the assault, and she took them to River Region Medical Center where they were examined, Smith said.

DNA evidence collected in the examination matched a sample taken from Ross, Smith said.

“I want to thank the officers and investigators of the Vicksburg Police Department for their work in this case. The evidence they collected made it possible for us to obtain a lengthy prison sentence without the necessity of putting these children on a witness stand at trial,” Smith said.

Ross was arrested the next say hiding under a mobile home in the 10000 block of U.S. 61 South, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace has said.

After a probation violation hearing, Ross was sent to prison to complete a sentence. He was mistakenly released even though he faced a $700,000 bail in the sexual battery case. Police recaptured him July 9 while he was hiding in the attic of a home on Patton Street, Williams said.