Former New Hampshire state Rep. Stacie-Marie Laughton, once touted as the nation’s first openly “transgender” elected lawmaker, has pleaded guilty to federal child sex abuse charges.
According to ABC affiliate WMUR-TV, Laughton, a 41-year-old male, entered the plea this month in a Boston federal courtroom to charges that included sexual exploitation of children. Prosecutors said Laughton conspired with his former girlfriend, Lindsay Groves, to exploit children at Creative Minds, a daycare center in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, where Groves worked.
Groves admitted last month that in 2022, she photographed nude children under the age of five and sent at least four images to Laughton, who was serving in the New Hampshire House of Representatives at the time, WMUR previously reported.
Documents shared by the New Hampshire Union Leader said Groves “used natural bathroom breaks for the children,” such as “routine diaper pull-up changes” to “take multiple photos of the prepubescent children in a private bathroom.” Groves then “sent the photos to the (former intimate partner) via text message.”
Authorities said the pair “exchanged thousands of text messages,” including explicit discussions where Laughton expressed sexual interest in the children, according to a 2022 affidavit cited by FOX News.
Both Laughton and Groves were indicted in August 2023 with three counts of sexual exploitation of children, the New York Post reported. Sexual exploitation of children carries a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. They will be sentenced in February.
Laughton first made headlines in 2012 when he was elected to the New Hampshire legislature and celebrated by Democrats as the first openly “transgender” state lawmaker in New Hampshire. However, Laughton’s political career quickly unraveled.
Shortly after being elected in 2012, Laughton announced he would not take office due to previous felony-level credit card fraud convictions, FOX reported. After a failed attempt to return to office in 2014, he won a seat in 2020 but resigned in 2022 after being arrested for stalking.
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