Disturbing details in the arrest of the nation’s first elected transgender legislator and a Massachusetts preschool worker on child exploitation and pornography charges have been released by the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Former New Hampshire State Rep. Stacie-Marie Laughton, a Democrat from Nashua and Lindsay Groves, a caregiver at the Creative Minds Learning Center in Tyngsboro, were both arrested and charged last week with multiple counts of child exploitation and distribution of child pornography.
Laughton made history back in 2012 when she was elected as the first transgender lawmaker in the United States. She was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
The arrests of Laughton and Groves were initiated by the Nashua Police Department, but because of the nature of the crimes, it has been transferred to HSI for federal prosecution.
According to a report based on a preliminary investigation into the case by a Homeland Security criminal investigator, Groves bragged in text messages that she used “natural bathroom breaks” at the daycare center prior to “naptime” to take photos of children’s genitals.
Special agent Rocco Rauseo said he was able to determine that the children allegedly exploited by Laughton and Groves are between the ages of 3 and 5.
He also wrote in his report that Groves took pictures of their children with their pants pulled down below their knees. He said the images Groves took consisted of the genitals of both boys and girls at the preschool.
In one of the images, Groves captured her own ankle tattoo.
In his report, Rauseo identified the person Groves was texting the pictures to as “Person 1” and did not specifically name Laughton. However, he does identify Groves, 38, and Person 1 as former lovers. Laughton is 39.
Nashua Sgt. John Cinelli, the initial investigator in the case, told The Epoch Times that Laughton is directly connected to Groves but said he could not comment further.
Cinelli said he also knows of no other people charged in the case.
Rauseo’s report also includes transcripts of some of the text exchanges between Groves and Person 1.
They are so sexually graphic that most of them have to be paraphrased. In one of the texts, Person 1 refers to a picture of a little girl’s genitals taken and sent by Groves with vulgar language and calls it [expletive] hot.
“I also need to be honest. I mean, yes, that picture was hot of that little boy, but you probably have gotten the picture by now that I prefer a little girl, but he is cute. I’d like to see you put your hand around his penis,” wrote Person 1 to Groves.
Preceding the comment, Groves wrote in a text to Person 1, “I want to do this with you with one of my kids.”
According to Rauseo’s report, Groves was taking the pictures and texting them right away to Person 1. In another text, Person 1 asks Groves if the children gave her any “issues.” She replies, “No.”
The learning center where Groves worked at the time of her arrest did not respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times.
According to its website, it offers preschool programs, before-school care, and child care.
“Your child’s safety is of our highest concern,” its website states, noting it has secured locked entrances.
The arrest of Laughton and Groves comes amid national controversy over lewd public behavior and indecent exposure during several Pride month parades around the country.
Over the weekend, an LGBT group chanted at a Pride parade in New York, “We’re coming for your children.”
In another now highly publicized video, a Pride participant can be seen twerking his naked buttocks in front of children in Minnesota and in Seattle, a group of naked men with their genitals exposed rode bicycles past onlookers, including children, as part of a Pride parade there.
Two weeks earlier, in LA, two scantily-dressed gay men put on a bondage exhibition during a crowded Pride month event.
In New Hampshire, a heavy barrage of criticism has been aimed at Democrat leaders for not condemning Laughton, who, as it turns out, has a lengthy criminal history.
Laughton, a biological male whose birth name is Barry Charles, was first elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2012, and became the first openly transwoman in the nation to be elected to a state office. Laughton served briefly before resigning.
Over the years, Laughton has been convicted of making a bomb threat, credit card fraud, and making false 911 calls. Laughton was free on bail when Nashua voters reelected Laughton him in 2022. By that time, he was also a three-time convicted felon.
Laughton was assigned to the State-Federal Relations Veterans Affairs Committee by House leaders and sponsored several bills before resigning.
Following his 2022 election, Laughton was arrested and jailed on charges of stalking and domestic violence. Laughton was given a nine-month suspended sentence in an offered plea deal from the Hillsborough County District Attorney’s office.
Laughton was consequently free to serve in the New Hampshire Legislature but ended up resigning.
A Twitter post about Laughton’s arrest has drawn thousands of comments and more than five million views, with Republicans attacking Democrats for allowing someone like Laughton to make it into the New Hampshire House of Representatives once again.
According to a Dec. 22, 2022 article by the Patch, following Laughton’s 2022 conviction, both New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley and House Democratic Caucus Leader Matt Wilhelm released statements demanding Laughton’s resignation.
Neither Wilhelm nor Buckley responded to inquiries from The Epoch Times.
New Hampshire Republicans like Leah Cushman (R), who has advocated for the passage of a parental rights bill, believe that both Wilhelm and Buckley, who is openly gay, have been way too silent about Laughton.
A little girl waives an LGBT flag at a Pride parade held in Portsmouth, N.H., on June 24, 2022. Alice Giordano/The Epoch Times
Cushman said it is especially critical for Democrats to condemn the sexual exploitation of children with the growing controversy over gender identity politics and schools resisting parental notification policy proposals about sexual activity involving students.
I think the Democratic party should have taken a hard look at the situation long before this happened,“ said Cushman, ”this goes way beyond the golden rule of inclusion.”
In May, New Hampshire Democrats narrowly defeated a parental rights bill after arguing it would unfairly out LGBT children to their parents.
In a triumphant comment in response to the bill’s defeat, Wilhelm said he was glad “we don’t need to insert teachers into the parent-child relationship and force them to out LGBTQ+ youth before they’re ready.”
The bill was defeated by state Democrats following a survey that showed 80 percent of New Hampshire voters polled support parental rights policies at schools.
Cinelli told The Epoch Times that police began an investigation into Laughton and Groves after receiving a call about inappropriate sexual activity going on at the center. He said due to the ongoing investigation, he could not say if it was a parent, an employee of the center, or someone else.
The learning center did not respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times.
According to its website, it offers preschool programs, before and school care, and child care.
“Your child’s safety is of our highest concern,” its website states, noting it has secured locked entrances.
