Louisiana's first female mayor of DeRidder has now become its most notorious former officeholder. A jury on Tuesday convicted 43-year-old Misty Roberts of statutory rape and indecent behavior with a minor, finding she sexually assaulted a 16-year-old boy at a July 2024 pool party at her home while she was still mayor. Jurors in DeRidder deliberated less than an hour after a weeklong trial, reports the Guardian. Roberts now faces up to 17 years in prison at a sentencing hearing set for April 17; she will have to register as a sex offender, notes the New York Post. She remains free on a $75,000 bond.
The teen testified that he and Roberts had been drinking heavily when she began kissing him by the pool, then took him upstairs and raped him, according to local outlet KPLC. Her children and a nephew said they saw Roberts and the boy together that night, though not the assault itself. A DoorDash driver told jurors he delivered the emergency contraceptive Plan B to Roberts' home afterward. Prosecutors also presented messages in which Roberts allegedly urged her children and nephew to lie about what they saw, including one text that read, "Lie 'til you die."
Roberts' ex-husband testified that she admitted what happened, and trial evidence included texts in which she appeared to acknowledge wrongdoing: "I f---ed up. And I respect you enough to tell you," one message cited in a criminal complaint said. Her attorneys said they respected but were "disappointed" in the verdict and asked the public to remember "there's a real person and family living through it."
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
