Misty Roberts, the former mayor of DeRidder, Louisiana, has come under fire after allegedly sending a barrage of panicked text messages in the wake of being caught in a locked room with her son’s 16-year-old friend during a drunken pool party at her home.
According to a criminal complaint, the 43-year-old is accused of taking advantage of the teenager in 2024. The encounter, prosecutors say, was partially captured by her son in a photograph.
Highlights
- Former DeRidder Mayor, Misty Roberts, took advantage of a 16-year-old boy during a pool party in 2024.
- Jurors were shown photos from the event, testimony from her children, and records of an emergency contraception delivery.
- Roberts resigned days before her arrest and has pleaded not guilty as her retrial unfolds.
He later told police he watched through a crack in a window as the pair had intimacy.
The incident and frantic digital trail that followed have now taken center stage at her ongoing trial, where Roberts has pleaded not guilty.
Text messages linked to the former mayor of DeRidder, Misty Roberts, have been made public as she faces trial
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Court papers paint a disturbing picture of the night in question.
The teen, whose identity remains concealed, had been invited to Roberts’ home for a pool party, where photos later shown to jurors revealed minors holding drinks near the water and Roberts standing in a bikini near the teenager.
Prosecutors said was looking up at her in a “lewd” fashion.
Image credits: Facebook
A criminal complaint alleges that Roberts “pressed her b*tt up against (her alleged victim) while taking a photograph of him.” She allegedly “made statements about being attracted to (the boy),” placing her hand on his bare torso as she spoke.
In the backyard and pool area, investigators say, she kissed the teenager and then warned him: “We can’t do this here.”
Court records claim Roberts then followed the boy into a “bonus room” inside the house and locked the doors behind them. There, she allegedly lay down on a couch with him and continued kissing him.
Image credits: 7 KPLC
“She exposed her breasts while kissing (the boy) in the locked bonus room,” the complaint states. At one point, she reportedly asked him why he “chose her to have s**ual inte**ourse with.”
The same filing alleges she “sat on top of (the boy) on the couch in the bonus room as depicted in the photograph taken by the defendant’s son.”
Her daughter, in an interview presented in court, recalled seeing her mother and the teenage boy “on top of each other” that same night.
The teenage boy’s mother confronted Roberts, demanding to know if she had taken contraceptives
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In the aftermath, the teenager’s mother confronted Roberts directly, firing off messages that laid bare her fears and the gravity of what she believed had occurred.
“Out of respect for both our families, can you assure me that you can’t be pregnant?” she texted Roberts, according to the criminal complaint.
Roberts allegedly responded with a single word: “Yes.”
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Unsatisfied, the mother pressed further: “So no protection? Are you on birth control, have you had tubal, hysterectomy??”
“Birth control,” Roberts wrote back, according to the documents. “But, it also didn’t reach that point in those few minutes to have that concern. I understand the concern, but I can assure you of that.”
For prosecutors, that exchange was damning because Roberts, rather than denying the encounter, appeared to focus on pregnancy risk and minimizing how far it went and how long it lasted.
The defense, on the other hand, maintains that no “r**e” occurred and that any inferences drawn from those texts are being twisted against her.
Image credits: Facebook
Further complicating matters was the fact jurors were told that a DoorDash driver delivered emergency contraception to Roberts’ home in 2024.
The driver testified he received an order from “Misty C” to purchase the pill and leave it at the front door.
While he said he initially thought little of it, he later came to suspect it was connected to the alleged attack once news of the case spread through the community.
Roberts pleaded with a juvenile witness to persuade the alleged victim to remain silent
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Court papers reveal Roberts also reached out to her ex-husband, identified as Duncan Clanton, sending him a series of messages that prosecutors say show a woman aware she had crossed a line.
“I need to talk to you,” she wrote, followed by: “I just need to tell you in person.”
“I f***** up. And I respect you enough to tell you. And I need to,” she continued.
Image credits: Facebook
Clanton’s replies have been kept out of the documents, but Roberts later referenced him in a separate string of texts with a juvenile witness identified only as “HR.”
On the same day and the day after the alleged as**ult, Roberts messaged HR repeatedly.
“I love you and I am so sorry. I cannot even believe it. I am sick. That shouldn’t happen,” she wrote.
“I really hope this doesn’t blow up even worse. I’m scared to d**th,” Roberts added. “Please make sure he doesn’t say anything please. I am truly sorry.”
Prosecutors argue that these messages are enough to incriminate Roberts. The defense counters that expressions of panic, regret, or fear do not automatically equate to a crime, insisting that context have been stripped away.
Roberts resigned as mayor of DeRidder in 2024, days before her arrest.
Her first trial blew up into a mistrial after two local judges tied to her ex‑husband were ordered off the case. Prosecutors then refiled, adding and reshuffling charges.
The former mayor hasn’t been convicted or acquitted at the time of writing.
"Mother of the year." Netizens took to social media to share their thoughts on the case
