Former Louisiana mayor completes 90-day jail term for raping 16-year-old boy

Judge admits he made mistake in sentencing Misty Roberts, who faced up to 17 years in prison after conviction

The former Louisiana mayor Misty Roberts has completed the 90-day jail sentence she received for raping a 16-year-old boy while still in elected office and been released from custody, according to state corrections records.

The 44-year-old finished her jail term on Monday, the Labor Day holiday in the US, one week after the judge who presided over her case rejected a request from prosecutors to force her to serve a harsher sentence.

Judge Kent Savoie based Roberts’ sentence on a list of more than 30 cases that were resolved through plea deals, unlike her prosecution, which culminated in a jury trial and guilty verdict, Louisiana news station KPLC reported.

The judge recently had acknowledged publicly that this was a mistake. “I asked someone to get me a list of cases similar,” the judge said at a 31 August court hearing, according to KPLC. “I made an assumption, and that assumption was wrong. I was wrong in that respect.”

Nonetheless, the outlet reported, Savoie indicated that he would not punish Roberts for exercising her right to stand trial rather than plead guilty first.

Roberts was facing up to 17 years in prison after jurors in early March convicted her of carnal knowledge of a juvenile – colloquially known as statutory rape – and indecent behavior with a minor.

Prosecutors established that she sexually assaulted the underage victim while they drank alcohol at a pool party at her home in July 2024.

Roberts was mayor of the city of DeRidder at the time of the crime, having held the post since 2018. She resigned days before authorities arrested her in early August 2024.

The victim, meanwhile, was a local high school student who was friends with Roberts’ son, a key witness in the case.

Roberts’ three-month jail sentence stirred controversy in DeRidder and beyond for its brevity. DeRidder resident Kari McGee told local television news outlet KALB , “When it comes to children, we should use the fullest extent of the law. There are no excuses when it comes to our children.”

Another DeRidder resident, Ryan Clark, said to KALB that Roberts’ short sentence was “an insult”.

Roberts was also required to register as a sex offender, pay $5,000 in fines, submit to regular drug screenings and undergo psychotropic as well as psychological therapy after her release from custody. She would have to serve two suspended five-year prison sentences concurrently if she violates her release conditions, too.

Roberts addressed Savoie at her sentencing on 9 June by saying, according to KPLC , “I blame myself then, I blame myself today and I will blame myself for the rest of my life. I let a lot of people down, and I am the only person responsible for that.”

She also reportedly apologized to the family of her victim, saying: “I can’t give back the high school days … I can’t take away the embarrassment that so many mean people on the internet have put them through.”

The victim’s mother provided an impact statement in which she called Roberts “a predator with hair extensions, high heels [and] Botox”.

“Stay the hell away from my family,” the victim’s mother was reported to have told Roberts.