DeRidder Ex-Mayor on Trial for Assault on Minor

In the small Louisiana city of DeRidder, former Mayor Misty Roberts is standing trial on charges of third-degree assault and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles, stemming from allegations that she engaged in sexual activity with a 16-year-old boy during a pool party at her home in 2024.

The incident, which unfolded at Roberts's residence in late August 2024, involved a gathering attended by teenagers, including Roberts's own children. Prosecutors allege that alcohol was provided to minors at the event, and that Roberts, then 43 and in her second term as mayor of the city with about 9,800 residents near the Texas border, had sexual intercourse with the boy. Under Louisiana law, third-degree assault applies to sexual relations between an adult and a minor below the age of consent, even without force, and carries potential prison time upon conviction. Roberts has pleaded not guilty, and her defense has emphasized inconsistencies in witness accounts and the lack of direct physical evidence.

Key testimony has come from Roberts's family members. In a recorded interview played for jurors, her son described peering through a crack in a window and believing he saw his mother...