The former mayor of a small Louisiana town has been found guilty of having sex with her son’s 16-year-old friend at an alcohol-filled pool party.
Misty Roberts, the 43-year-old former mayor of DeRidder, was “convicted on charges of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile,” the New York Post reports.
Roberts’ “juvenile daughter and teenage son” allegedly witnessed the act, the outlet noted.
A former Louisiana mayor has been found guilty of having sex with a minor while she was still in office.
Details: https://t.co/Ip67Kn3vX4 pic.twitter.com/6PB1mEZbxJ
— TMZ (@TMZ) March 4, 2026
More from the New York Post:
The conviction comes after the boy she had sex with at the 2024 party testified in front of jurors that he was drunk when the sex crime unfolded, the outlet said.
Roberts will have to register as a sex offender. Her sentencing is scheduled for April 17.
Carnal knowledge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, whereas indecent behavior carries a sentence of up to seven years, according to the report.
The jury saw previous testimony from several witnesses of the incident, including an interview of the son telling investigators he saw his mom hooking up with his pal through a crack in the window.
Her daughter also testified she saw Roberts and the 16-year-old “on top of each other.”
The disgraced mayor’s best friend and former sister-in-law, Jill Weaver, testified to jurors that she had overheard Roberts’ teenage son screaming that his mom “effed” his “best friend” after the drunken pool party when she was asked to help mediate the chaos.
After that night, the victim’s mom texted Roberts about the possibility of her becoming pregnant and Roberts assured the mother she was on birth control, text messages showed.
“I told ya’ll at the beginning of the trial that ‘a lewd and lascivious photo is worth a thousand words.’ Here, you have it,” Assistant District Attorney Charles Robinson said, according to Fox News.
Text Messages Released of Mayor Misty Roberts and The Mother of 16 Year She Had Took Advantage of at Pool Party Assuring Her She Wasn’t Pregnant With The Teenager’s Child (Photos) –> https://t.co/wtzjc2mNX8 pic.twitter.com/Obm8TWhGpc
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) March 2, 2026
Fox News explained further:
Robinson then pointed to a series of evidence exhibits showing Roberts posing with the victim while obscured by furniture, including photos from the night of the incident in which Roberts is seen wearing a bikini as the teen smiles up at her.
However, defense attorney Adam Johnson reportedly attempted to convince the jury that key parts of the case were not properly investigated by police, including potential DNA evidence, witness testimony and video surveillance from Roberts’ home.
Johnson alleged the investigation was an attempt to “railroad” Roberts by lead investigator Melissa Welch, who previously testified she told the victim’s mother that witnesses need to “get on board or get run over by the train.”
Earlier in the trial, jurors were shown text messages between Roberts and her teenage son, with the pair discussing what type of alcohol the teens wanted for the party hosted at her home.
In another exchange, Roberts’ son warned her of the victim’s age, texting her, “He is seventeen,” according to the outlet. The victim was 16 years old at the time of the alleged incident.
Additional text messages from the night of the party show Roberts’ son calling the situation “crazy” and telling her that his younger sister was emotional.
