Misty Roberts Sentencing: 90 Days, Savoie’s Reasoning, and Release

Former DeRidder, Louisiana mayor Misty Roberts was sentenced on June 9, 2026 to 90 days in the Beauregard Parish jail, five years of probation, and a $5,000 fine after a jury convicted her of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile for having sex with her son’s 16-year-old friend at a pool party. The sentencing by ad hoc District Judge Kent Savoie fell far short of the 17-year maximum she faced and drew sharp public criticism from the district attorney and the victim’s family.¹

What the Sentence Includes

The 90 days in parish jail is the only incarceration Roberts was ordered to serve immediately. Alongside it, Judge Savoie imposed two concurrent five-year prison sentences, both suspended, and placed Roberts on five years of supervised probation.¹

The probation conditions are specific. Roberts must abstain from drugs and alcohol, submit to random drug screenings, undergo psychological therapy, pay monthly supervision fees, and have no contact with the victim or his family. The $5,000 fine is on top of those requirements. She was also placed on the Louisiana sex offender registry on March 5, 2026, two days after the jury’s verdict.²

The 90 days is not the end of her exposure. If Roberts violates any condition of her five-year probation, she faces 10 years in prison.¹

How Judge Savoie Explained the 90 Days

Savoie spoke at length from the bench about how he arrived at the sentence. He said he had reviewed how other Beauregard Parish cases involving carnal knowledge and indecent behavior with a juvenile had been resolved over the previous 15 years, and he weighed Roberts’ lack of any prior criminal record and her compliance with every court requirement since her 2024 arrest.³

He rejected the prosecution’s request to treat Roberts’ position as mayor as an aggravating factor. She was, he said, “not acting as mayor or using her authority as mayor at the time that this occurred.”⁴

Savoie was not uniformly favorable to the defense. He criticized Roberts for telling children at the party that they “should not talk about it,” said he was not persuaded by her courtroom statement because he did not believe she had taken full responsibility, and told the court he was “substantially moved” by the harm to the victim’s family. He acknowledged the sentence would be unpopular, saying, “I can’t help the fact that people may be unhappy.”³

What the Prosecution Asked For

Beauregard Parish District Attorney James Lestage and Assistant District Attorney Charles Robinson pushed for the maximum sentence. Robinson told the court, “We’re talking about an elected public official who had sex with a child at a children’s birthday party,” and called Roberts’ expressions of remorse unconvincing and her attempt to portray herself as a victim “laughable.”⁵

After the sentence was read, Lestage put his objection in a public statement: “I don’t think the sentence that was imposed reflects the severity of the crimes. It doesn’t, in my opinion, represent the values of Beauregard Parish.”⁶

What the Defense Asked For

Roberts’ attorneys, Adam Johnson and Todd Clemons, wanted the entire sentence suspended. They characterized the offense as a “one-time mistake that happened during a mental breakdown,” argued Roberts was not a predator, and pointed out that the victim was close to the age of consent. They also argued that sex offender registration was itself a severe punishment.¹

The defense called clinical psychologist Dr. Sasha Joy Lambert, who testified that Roberts had less than a 3% chance of reoffending. Asked whether Roberts had fully acknowledged her crimes, Lambert said Roberts “did not,” a response that drew applause from the victim’s family in the packed courtroom.⁷

The Underlying Conviction

The sentence followed Roberts’ March 3, 2026 conviction by a six-person jury on two felony counts: carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile. The jury deliberated less than an hour. Roberts did not testify.⁸

The conduct took place on July 20, 2024, at a pool party Roberts hosted at her home for her son’s birthday. Prosecutors said she had bought alcohol for the teenagers in attendance. Trial testimony described Roberts flirting with a 16-year-old friend of her son, luring him into a room, and having sex with him while he was intoxicated. Roberts’ daughter testified she saw Roberts and the victim “on top of each other.” Her son photographed the scene through a window. After the incident, Roberts ordered Plan B emergency contraception through DoorDash; the driver, Paul Smith, recognized the delivery address and the customer name “Misty C.”⁹

Roberts had resigned as mayor on July 27, 2024, days after the party, and turned herself in to authorities on August 1, 2024, on an initial charge of third-degree rape and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles. A grand jury later replaced the rape count with carnal knowledge of a juvenile, and prosecutors added felony indecent behavior with a juvenile in April 2025.¹⁰

The Precedent Question

Public records requests filed after sentencing revealed something striking about the 15 years of local cases Savoie reviewed. All 34 sex abuse cases in Beauregard Parish that he examined for comparison had ended in plea deals. None of them involved a jury conviction. Of the 34, 25 ended in suspended sentences, and 12 resulted in no prison time at all.¹¹

Alex Bellow, a staff attorney at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, described a well-known phenomenon called the “trial tax,” in which defendants who go to trial often receive harsher sentences than those who plead guilty because judges learn more about the offense during a trial. Bellow declined to comment on the Roberts case specifically.¹¹

Public Reaction

In DeRidder and online, the sentence was repeatedly described as a “slap on the wrist.” Resident Kari McGee told a local news outlet, “When it comes to children, we should use the fullest extent of the law. There are no excuses.” Neighbor Ryan Clark called the sentence “an insult to the actual victim and the family.” Another resident asked, “What if I did that? I’d be getting maxed out.”⁶

The victim’s mother called Roberts “a predator wearing hair extensions, high heels, Botox, and makeup,” told the court she had found her son sitting alone in his room for hours and heard him crying at night, and said he had been taunted by an opposing baseball player who called him “the mayor slayer.” She told Roberts directly, “Stay the hell away from my family.”¹

Defense attorney Johnson appeared to acknowledge the public pressure from the podium, telling Savoie, “If you give her a suspended sentence, you’re not going to get as many likes.”³

Where Roberts Is Now

Roberts chose not to post the $150,000 appeal bond that would have kept her out of jail while she challenged the conviction. Her attorney Adam Johnson said she wanted to “get it over with” rather than keep the case hanging over her. As of late June 2026, she was serving her 90-day sentence at the Vernon Parish jail.¹²

When she is released, she will serve five years of probation, remain on the sex offender registry, submit to drug screenings, and attend psychological therapy. A violation of any probation condition would expose her to the 10-year prison term the judge held in reserve.¹¹

1
The Advocate. Misty Roberts DeRidder Mayor Sex Crime Sentencing
2
KALB. Former DeRidder Mayor Misty Roberts Officially on Sex Offender Registry
3
KPLC. Why Did Judge Kent Savoie Sentence Misty Roberts to 90 Days in Jail
4
Louisiana Radio Network. Former DeRidder Mayor Sentenced
5
KPLC. Former DeRidder Mayor Misty Roberts to Be Sentenced Today for Child Sex Crimes
6
KALB. Slap on the Wrist: DeRidder Citizens Express Disappointment After Misty Roberts Gets 90 Days
7
American Press. Former DeRidder Mayor Gets 90-Day Sentence for Having Sex With Teen
8
New York Post. Disgraced Louisiana Mayor Misty Roberts Learns Fate for Having Sex With Teenage Son’s Friend
9
Oxygen. Misty Roberts Accused of Having Sex With Teen, DoorDash Driver Testifies
10
American Press. New Charge Filed Against Former DeRidder Mayor Accused of Sexual Relationship With Teen
11
KPLC. Cases Used in Deciding Misty Roberts Sentencing All Ended in Plea Deals, Public Records Show
12
KNOE. Cases Used in Deciding Misty Roberts Sentencing All Ended in Plea Deals, Public Records Show