Former New Hampshire State Representative Sentenced to 33 Years for Child Exploitation

A former New Hampshire state representative has been sentenced to 33 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sexually exploiting children — a case that unraveled a years-long abusive relationship between the ex-lawmaker and her former romantic partner, an employee at a Massachusetts daycare center, and that has reignited long-running political controversy in New Hampshire over the legislator's prior tenure in the state House.

The Sentencing

Stacie Marie Laughton, 42, of Nashua, New Hampshire, was sentenced Thursday in US District Court in Boston by Senior District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 400 months — 33 years and four months — in federal prison. The sentence breaks down as 220 months on the first two counts, to be served concurrently, and 180 months on the third count, to be served consecutively to the first two. Five years of supervised release on each count will follow, to be served concurrently once Laughton's prison term concludes.

Laughton pleaded guilty on November 3, 2025, to three counts of sexual exploitation of children. The case was prosecuted by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, since the underlying conduct crossed state lines between New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Laughton's former romantic partner and co-defendant, Lindsay Groves, 40, of Hudson, New Hampshire, was sentenced earlier this month to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography. Groves had been employed at Creative Minds Early Learning Center, a daycare in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, where prosecutors say the underlying abuse took place.

According to the Justice Department, all minor victims in the case have been identified, and their families have been contacted by law enforcement.

What the Investigation Found

The case originated in 2023, when the Nashua Police Department received a report that Laughton had sent child sexual abuse material to another individual via text message. That person brought the material to police, who confirmed its contents and opened an investigation. When questioned, Laughton acknowledged having received the material from Groves. Groves, in turn, told investigators she had taken the material while working at the Tyngsborough daycare.

A subsequent search warrant covering both individuals' devices revealed an extensive pattern of communication between them — court filings describe more than 1,000 text messages, with related court records citing more than 10,000 messages exchanged in total, that prosecutors say documented an extended pattern of discussion of, and the exchange of, child sexual abuse material.

In their sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors wrote that Laughton spoke "extensively" in messages from spring 2023 about "potential or fantasized sexual contact with kids," and argued that while Groves was aware she was doing something wrong, it was Laughton whose "voice was, to put it mildly, the more prominent one in the ongoing conversation" driving the abuse documented in the case. Prosecutors further alleged that Laughton showed or forwarded material to other adults, and that despite this, Laughton did not disclose her own role in the underlying conduct when she eventually reported Groves to authorities — characterizing that report as an act of retaliation following the end of their relationship rather than a genuine effort to protect any child.

Laughton's defense attorney, in a separate sentencing memorandum, described his client as having had a difficult upbringing that included a history of sexual abuse, developmental delays, self-harm, substance use, and multiple inpatient psychiatric treatments — context the defense argued was relevant to sentencing. Prosecutors countered that Laughton's personal history did not mitigate the severity of the crimes, writing that her broader criminal record reflected "a theme: entitlement, aggression, and manipulation."

Who Is Stacie Laughton

Laughton, who was born Barry Charles Laughton Jr., was first elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2012, and was credited at the time as the first openly transgender person elected to any state legislature in the United States. She resigned before taking her seat after reports surfaced regarding a prior felony conviction for identity fraud. She was later elected to the New Hampshire House on two further occasions, serving intermittently between 2020 and 2022, but resigned a second time in December 2022 after being arrested on stalking and harassment charges unrelated to the exploitation case.

New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley had previously praised Laughton publicly, at one point describing her as part of "the backbone of the Granite State" — comments that have resurfaced amid renewed political attention to the case this week. Laughton's prior legislative service was also referenced earlier this week during a news conference in New Hampshire urging Governor Kelly Ayotte to sign legislation restricting access to certain women's spaces based on sex, with several female former House members recounting having shared a legislative restroom with Laughton during her time in office.

The Broader Case

Federal sentencing guidelines for sexual exploitation of children provide for a term of between 15 and 30 years in prison per count, with the possibility of consecutive sentences across multiple counts — meaning Laughton's ultimate 33-year sentence reflects both the seriousness with which the court treated each individual count and the consecutive structuring applied to the third.

With sentencing now concluded for both defendants, the case stands as one of the more significant federal child exploitation prosecutions to emerge from New Hampshire in recent years, and one notable for the direct involvement of a sitting and former elected state official in conduct uncovered through a daycare employee's own admissions to police.

Sources

1. New Hampshire Public Radio — Former state lawmaker from Nashua sentenced to 33 years in prison for child exploitation
2. Boston.com — Former N.H. lawmaker sentenced to 33 years in prison for child exploitation
3. New Hampshire Union Leader — Former Nashua lawmaker Stacie Marie Laughton gets 33 years for child sex abuse
4. NH Journal — Ex-NH Dem Rep. Laughton Sentenced to 33 Years in Child Exploitation Case
5. WZID 95.7FM — Former Nashua State Rep sentenced to more than 30 years for sexually exploiting children
6. US Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts (Justice Department) — Tyngsborough Daycare Worker and Former New Hampshire State Representative Plead Guilty to Child Exploitation
7. Associated Press / Fox News — Former New Hampshire lawmaker charged with aiding, abetting the sexual exploitation of children