A former New Hampshire state representative, once celebrated as a trailblazer, has pleaded guilty to federal charges of child sex abuse. Stacie-Marie Laughton, 41, admitted to offenses involving the sexual exploitation of children and the distribution of child sexual abuse materials in a Boston courtroom.
The case centers around allegations of a disturbing collaboration with her former girlfriend, Lindsay Groves. Groves, a former daycare employee at Creative Minds in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, is accused of taking illicit photographs of young children and sending them to Laughton.
These images, depicting children under the age of five, were transmitted to Laughton in 2022 while she was still serving as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Investigators uncovered a staggering volume of communication between the two women – thousands of text messages exchanged around the time the photos were sent.
The content of those messages is particularly chilling. According to investigators, Laughton expressed explicit desires related to the children depicted in the photographs. This revelation casts a dark shadow over her previous public image and political achievements.
Laughton’s initial election in 2012 carried significant historical weight. She was widely recognized as the first openly transgender person elected to a state legislature in the United States, a landmark moment for LGBTQ+ representation. New Hampshire celebrated her as a pioneer.
However, the narrative is more complex. While Laughton was the first *openly* transgender state lawmaker, Althea Garrison of Massachusetts was elected in 1992, though she did not publicly disclose her transgender identity until after the election. This nuance complicates the historical record.
Laughton’s path to public office was fraught with obstacles even before these recent charges. Shortly after her 2012 election, she announced she would not serve, citing prior felony convictions related to credit card fraud. This marked the beginning of a series of legal challenges that would plague her political career.
She attempted a political comeback in 2014, but the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission blocked her candidacy due to her suspended sentence. Despite this setback, she successfully ran for office again in 2020, representing Nashua’s Ward 3 in the New Hampshire House.
Her time in office was ultimately cut short. Laughton resigned in 2022 following an arrest related to a stalking incident, foreshadowing the gravity of the accusations that would soon surface. This latest guilty plea represents a devastating fall from grace for a figure once hailed as a symbol of progress.
