Apparently, there are lewd photos of the former DeRidder Mayor

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After months of delays, the trial of Misty Roberts finally got underway Thursday afternoon.

Roberts, 43, stands accused of having sex with a teenage boy at a party at her house while she was mayor of DeRidder.

In the prosecution’s opening statement, they said the investigation uncovered telling text messages between Roberts and the victim’s mother, and a photo of Roberts and the boy on the night in question.

“A lewd and lascivious picture is worth a thousand words, and that was what was uncovered,” prosecutor Charles Robinson said.

Roberts’ attorneys say police only picked up on the case because of rumors on social media.

“Rumor became the story, and story became the press release,” defense attorney Adam Johnson said.

Roberts is charged with carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile, both felonies. She is being tried by a six-person jury because neither charge carries a mandatory prison sentence.

Robinson said text messages show the boy’s mother reached out to Roberts to ask for assurances she wasn’t pregnant, to which Roberts replied she was on birth control.

Roberts then allegedly shared a screenshot of the text in a message group with friends, suggesting she would take Plan B just in case.

Robinson said jurors will hear from the driver who delivered the Plan B to her door.

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The case ended in a mistrial earlier this year and faced further delays on Monday, when the Third Circuit Court of Appeal stayed jury selection while it considered three defense requests.

It denied all three requests, however, and jury selection resumed Wednesday. A six-person jury was seated and opening statements began at 1:36 p.m. Thursday.

Judge Kent Savoie paused the trial early today due to what he said is an evidence issue. He also told jurors the trial may go into Saturday, but they will take a day off on Sunday if they have to. Court resumes again at 9:00 tomorrow morning.

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