Left: Misty Clanton Roberts (City of DeRidder). Right: Roberts after her arrest (Louisiana State Police).
A now-former Louisiana mayor facing allegations that she sexually assaulted a minor while in office says she is innocent.
Misty Dawn Clanton Roberts, 42, stands accused of one count each of rape in the third degree and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles, according to law enforcement in the Pelican State.
The defendant was arrested by Louisiana State Police and booked into the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office on Thursday.
On July 27, Roberts informally resigned as mayor of DeRidder, a small town roughly 50 miles north of Lake Charles. She was in the middle of her second term as the municipality’s executive, winning reelection with 60% of the vote in 2022.
Under Louisiana state election law, the secretary of state must receive a signed and notarized letter to formally process a resignation — which reportedly had not occurred as of late last week, city officials told Lake Charles-based newspaper American Press.
The mayor quitting midterm was a bit of a whirlwind.
On July 25, Roberts sent a relatively innocuous letter to the city council announcing she would be “out of the city” for two weeks and left DeRidder Fire Chief Ken Harlow in charge as acting mayor.
But after the resignation letter, rumors swirled across the bayous.
City council members reportedly first fielded telephone calls about those rumors — declining to say what, exactly, the whispers were all about. Then, they met with one another and the city attorney. Next, a special council session was called to mull launching an investigation into the mayor. That would-be inquiry was nixed after elected officials learned Roberts was already being looked at by law enforcement.
On July 31, the Louisiana State Police confirmed an investigation into the former mayor. Still, specifics were nil.
On Thursday, the agency issued a press release after the former mayor turned herself in to investigators “without incident.”
It was revealed that back on July 26, the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office asked the Louisiana State Police Special Victim’s Unit to investigate a complaint against Roberts over allegations of sexual relations with a juvenile.
“As the investigation progressed, LSP SVU conducted interviews with two juveniles, one of which was the victim,” state police said in the press release. “Both juveniles confirmed Roberts had sexual intercourse with one juvenile victim while employed as Mayor. Investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Roberts from the Beauregard Parish 36th Judicial District Court.”
Roberts, for her part, vehemently denied the allegations in a statement released by her defense attorney, Adam Johnson, and provided to Baton Rouge-based CBS affiliate WAFB.
“My client learned late last night of a warrant, despite not being contacted to be interviewed prior to investigators obtaining the warrant,” the statement reads. “My client maintains her innocence and, as it stands, she is in fact innocent. She has not been charged with a crime and/or convicted of any crime. And we trust the public will respect her constitutional presumption of innocence which is fundamental to our system of justice. Misty and her family are very grateful for the support they have received from their friends and neighbors and we look forward to putting this unfortunate situation behind them.”
Roberts was released after posting $75,000 bond, jail records show.
Law&Crime reached out to both Johnson’s office and the Beauregard Parish Parish Sheriff’s Office for additional details on this story but no responses were immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
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