Former DeRidder Mayor Misty Roberts, who was found guilty of several sexual offenses following a 2024 party where she was accused of engaging in sexual relations with her son’s 16-year-old companion, was sentenced by a judge on Tuesday to spend 90 days in the parish jail.
Judge Kent Savoie, a member of the Third Circuit Court of Appeal, oversaw the trial and imposed the sentence on Roberts. He served as an ad hoc district judge for this case due to the disqualifications of the other district judges, The Advocate reported.
Savoie sentenced Roberts to five years in prison for each charge, with the sentences to be served concurrently. However, he suspended the sentence. Instead, he mandated that Roberts serve 90 days in the parish jail and pay a fine of $5,000.
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Misty Roberts case: Judge Kent Savoie puts one condition
Additionally, he required Roberts to refrain from using drugs and alcohol, to undergo random drug screenings, to pay monthly supervision fees, and to avoid any contact with the victim and his family. Should she breach any of the conditions of a five-year probation, she will face a 10-year prison sentence.
State prosecutors sought the maximum penalty for Roberts — ten years for one charge and seven years for another — while her defense attorneys advocated for a suspended sentence.
Prior to sentencing, the judge listened to victim impact statements from the mother of the 16-year-old victim, along with two older sisters and a cousin. They expressed that the victim has been experiencing panic attacks following the 2024 party, has missed significant amounts of school, and that they are concerned about his potential self-harm.
Victim’s mother speaks out
Calling Roberts a child predator, the victim’s mom said, “The person responsible took many things from our family” but “She will not take our son’s future.”
Her statement to the courtroom concluded with a warning to Roberts: “Stay the hell away from my family.”
Misty Roberts says ‘What an embarrassment I’ve been’
Roberts also spoke to the courtroom prior to her sentencing on Tuesday.
“I have sat with the consequences of my actions for nearly two years,” the former mayor said.
“I blamed myself that day,” Roberts added. “I blame myself today, and I will blame myself for the rest of my life.”
She characterized July 20, the day of the incident, as reaching “the absolute floor.”
“What an embarrassment I’ve been to this city,” she said. “I’ve made a mess of all of this, but it certainly was not my intent.”
Roberts expressed that her anxiety over potentially losing her children compelled her to request others to provide false statements regarding the events that transpired.
“I feared that day that he would leave and take my children and I’d never see them again,” she stated, referring to her former husband, Duncan Clanton.
She concluded her statements with a heartfelt appeal to the court focused on the theme of motherhood.
A psychologist based in Lafayette, Sasha Joy Lambert, assessed Roberts and provided testimony indicating that she presents a minimal risk of reoffending and would gain from targeted, extended treatment.
