A former official is accused of aiding and abetting sexual exploitation of children
The booking photograph of Stacie Marie Laughton, 39, of Nashua, N.H © Nashua N.H. Police via AP
The first ever elected openly transgender New Hampshire lawmaker is facing criminal charges for allegedly conspiring with her ex-girlfriend to gather sexually explicit photos of children, federal prosecutors announced this week.
“Stacie Marie Laughton, 39, of Nashua, N.H., was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children — and aiding and abetting. Laughton will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date,” US Attorney’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Laughton was arrested after a forensic investigation revealed over 10,000 text messages shared with her former partner, Lindsay Groves, a former daycare worker, that included sexually explicit images of children that appear to be between three and five years of age as well as explicit description of sex with each other and children.
Grovers took the images between May 2022 and June 2022, while being employed at Creative Minds daycare, in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. She was arrested and charged with distribution of child pornography and sexual exploitation of children last month. The penalty for such crime is up to 30 years in prison.
Stacie-Marie Laughton is an American politician and a member of the Democratic party, who was the first openly transgender person ever elected to the chamber in 2012. She resigned her position as a State Representative before taking the seat, after media uncovered her past conviction for identity fraud and falsifying evidence. Laughton ran again in 2020 and was re-elected in 2022 but resigned in December after being charged with stalking Groves.
