Trans Ex-NH Lawmaker Gets 33 Years for Child Sex Abuse

Stacie Marie Laughton, 41, from Nashua, received a sentence exceeding 33 years after admitting to receiving explicit photographs of minors, as New York Post reports. The defendant, who previously served in the New Hampshire state legislature and identifies as transgender, was convicted on sexual exploitation of children charges.

The case involved Laughton’s former romantic partner, Lindsay Groves, 40, of Hudson, New Hampshire, who received a 22-year prison sentence earlier this month. Groves had entered guilty pleas to three counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography.

According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Groves worked at Creative Minds daycare in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, where the crimes occurred. Between May 2022 and June 2023, Groves systematically photographed prepubescent children in a private bathroom during routine diaper and pull-up changes before nap time, prosecutors said.

The explicit images were transmitted to Laughton via text message, federal authorities confirmed. A forensic examination of both defendants’ mobile phones revealed more than 10,000 text messages exchanged between them during just one month in 2023.

Court records disclosed that these messages contained discussions about explicit images of children and actual transfers of such material. The victims included children as young as three to five years old.

Law enforcement successfully identified all child victims depicted in the images, and their families have been notified by authorities.

Officials at Hillsborough County jail confirmed to NH Journal that Laughton has been housed with the male prison population.

Neither Creative Minds Early Learning Center nor the US Attorney’s Office provided immediate comment when contacted by media outlets.

With information from New York Post