25 Investigates: Tyngsboro daycare worker accusations were first reported 10 months prior

BOSTON — 25 Investigates has learned a Tyngsboro daycare received Facebook messages last summer accusing an employee of taking pictures of nude children.

Daycare staff at Creative Minds notified Tyngsboro police about the Facebook messages accusing Lindsay Groves of taking the pictures, according to a source who spoke with Investigative Reporter Ted Daniel.

The source said the messages to the daycare were sent by Groves’ estranged partner, Stacie-Marie Laughton. Laughton is a former New Hampshire state representative and the first transgender person to be elected to state office in 2012.

Tyngsboro Police Chief Richard Howe said at the time that there was no evidence linking Groves to a crime and no action was taken against her.

Last week, federal authorities arrested Groves on child exploitation and child pornography charges. Authorities say they found pictures of nude children as young as 3 on Groves’ cell phone.  She allegedly took the pictures in a daycare bathroom.

Groves is in federal custody and will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date. She faces one charge of sexual exploitation of children and one charge of distribution of child pornography.

Also last week, Nashua police arrested Laughton, 39, of Derry, N.H., on a felony arrest warrant charging her with distribution of child sexual abuse images. She was also charged with three additional counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images.

In an email, Tyngsborough Police Chief Howe said the August, 2022 Facebook case was referred to his department as a domestic incident involving an ongoing dispute between Groves and Laughton.

Tyngsboro police did not charge Laughton with violating the protective order.

“The Tyngsborough Police Department can confirm that it did respond in August of 2022 to investigate allegations of a violation of a Stalking/Protective-order based on an order out of Nashua District Court involving parties named in the recent Department of Justice case,” Howe said in an email. “As a result of an investigation, it was determined that no criminal violations involving the Stalking/protective order had occurred. Tyngsborough Police were subsequently contacted last week with direct allegations involving alleged child pornography and an employee at Creative Minds, and as a result an immediate investigation was launched by Nashua PD and the U.S. Attorney’s office.”

25 Investigates went to the courthouse in Nashua and found Groves did have a protective order against Laughton as of August 2022.

In court records, Groves said Laughton had previously made false reports to police about her.

Groves wrote: “7 to 10 times she contacted 911 claiming I was hurting myself or overdosing which I wasn’t.”

25 Investigates has requested a copy of the report Tyngsborough police filed about the messages sent to the daycare.

A federal indictment says Groves sent pictures of nude children to an unnamed individual between May 2022 and June 2023. A source told Boston 25 News last week that Groves had sent the photos to Laughton.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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