BOSTON — A former New Hampshire lawmaker is facing federal charges in connection with an investigation into child sexual abuse at a Tyngsboro daycare center.
Stacie Marie Laughton, 39, of Nashua, N.H., was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and aiding and abetting, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement on Tuesday. Laughton will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
Laughton, New Hampshire’s first openly transgender lawmaker, is the former intimate partner of Lindsay Groves, a teacher at the daycare who is accused of taking sexually-explicit photographs of children there, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Groves is accused of then sharing the sexually-explicit photographs of the children with Laughton.
According to the charging documents, a preliminary forensic review of Groves’ cellphone allegedly revealed over 10,000 text messages between Laughton and Groves that included discussion about, and transfer of, explicit photographs that Groves had taken of children while employed at Creative Minds Early Learning Center at 164 Westford Ave. in Tyngsboro, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The photographs “include at least four sexually-explicit images of children who appear to be approximately three to five years old, as well as explicit descriptions of sex with each other and others, including children,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Groves, 38, of Hudson, N.H., was arrested and charged on June 22 with one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography. Following a detention hearing on July 13, the court took the federal government’s motion for detention under advisement. Groves remains in state custody in New Hampshire.
On Monday, the family of an alleged child sex abuse victim who attended a Tyngsboro daycare filed a civil lawsuit against the daycare facility.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in Middlesex Superior Court by Quincy attorneys Robert Norton and Roger Donahue on behalf of the family of a boy claiming sexual abuse by Groves at Creative Minds Early Learning Center.
The lawsuit alleges that Creative Minds “did nothing to protect the children” from Groves.
Anyone with questions, concerns or information regarding this case is asked to call 617-748-3274.
A person convicted of sexual exploitation of children faces a sentence of at least 15 years and up to 30 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
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