A Derry woman who once served as a New Hampshire state representative waived her arraignment last Friday on four charges of distributing child sexual abuse images, after she was arrested on June 22 for the crimes by Nashua Police.
Stacie Laughton, 39, is charged with knowingly transferring photos with her cell phone of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct to another individual, according to court documents in four separate complaints.
On June 20, officers responded to a local facility for a juvenile matter where they spoke with reporting parties that indicated Laughton had distributed sexually explicit images of kids, police said. Nashua Police made the arrest.
Laughton previously served in the New Hampshire House, representing Nashua.
Laughton remains in preventive detention with the Nashua Police and would need to sign a waiver of extradition before being released on bail.
Laughton also cannot have any unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 years old and is ordered not to use the internet, including social media.
Laughton additionally can’t contact any witness listed on the affidavit or Creative Minds — a daycare in Tyngsborough where an employee was also arrested on June 22 for allegedly distributing child pornography.
Nashua Police arrested Lindsay Groves on child sexual abuse images and child exploitation charges after completing an investigation that she had been involved with crimes against minors.
Groves, 38, of Hudson, allegedly took nude photos of underage children inside the bathroom of the Creative Minds where she worked, according to court documents.
She allegedly used bathroom breaks, such as routine diaper changes before nap time, to take the photos in a private bathroom and send the photos by text message, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts office said in a press release.
From May 2022 to June 2023, Groves is accused of sending those photos to someone with whom she previously shared an intimate relationship.
A forensic review found over 2,500 text messages exchanged between Groves and the person discussing and transferring the photos. At least four messages discovered include sexually explicit images of children who appear to be between three to five years old.
The four images detailed in the affidavit filed in Grove’s case appear identical in nature and context to the four complaints listed in Laughton’s charges.
Groves is currently in custody and will be arraigned in federal court at a later date.
This is an ongoing investigation.