First elected transgender state rep arrested in New Hampshire for distributing child exploitation images

The 39-year-old former lawmaker of Derry, New Hampshire, was arrested by the Nashua Police Department on June 22. Detectives from the Special Investigations Division had been alerted two days prior when individuals at a local community center reported Laughton and police were subsequently granted a warrant for Laughton’s arrest.

The Nashua Police Department confirmed his arrest while referring to the transgender lawmaker as "she."

"On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, Officers responded to a local facility for a juvenile matter," the statement read. "They spoke with reporting parties that indicated Laughton distributed sexually explicit images of children…They applied for and were granted a warrant for Laughton’s arrest. She was arrested on Thursday, June 22, 2023.”

The transgender lawmaker resigned from his position as a Democrat New Hampshire Rep in December 2022 after being arrested on November 12 for breaching a stalking order charge held against him. At the time of the resignation he issued a statement claiming he needed to work on his mental health, stating, “I will be attending mental health court and getting some counseling and trying to get my life back on track. I’m not perfect.” He also claimed that despite the arrest he would run for election again “in two years…I will run for state representative again.”

Nashua Police have said that Laughton’s case is also connected to the arrest of New Hampshire woman Lindsay Groves, who is alleged to have taked sexually explicit images of children at Creative Minds Early Learning Center daycare in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. The woman, who was employed at the daycare since 2017 as a child care teacher, was arrested and charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography. Both Laughton and Groves are reported to be close, with numerous pictures of the pair together on Facebook.

Stacie Laughton and Lindsay Groves

In a press statement issued by the US Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts it is alleged that the daycare worker took nude images of children at the facility where she worked and distributed the photos to an individual she was close to and who she was previously in an intimate relationship with.

The victims were targeted during bathroom breaks, with some of the children still in diapers and pull-ups being photographed while having their diapers changed in a private bathroom. Groves then sent the images directly to an individual whom she was close to and who it is believed she had a prior romantic relationship with.

Over 2,500 text message exchanges were found between Groves and the individual, with many of the messages discussing and transferring the explicit images. Four of the explicit images found on her device were of children aged between 3-5

Laughton’s history of criminal behavior includes a 2008 conviction for credit card fraud, a 2015 conviction for making a bomb threat against Southern Medical Center Hospital in Nashua, which he later blamed on "mental illness," a 2021 charge for sending fake texts to emergency 911 services, a July 2022 restraining order for stalking an unnamed woman and a November arrest for breaching the stalking order.

Laughton is currently being held on preventative detention and is set to be arranged at the Hillsborough Superior Court-South later today. He faces a minimum of 5 years in prison, up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000 for the distribution of child pornography. Grove also faces the same sentence with an additional 15 years up to a maximum of 30 years and up to a lifetime of supervised release for taking the indecent images.