Stacie-Marie Laughton, a former New Hampshire lawmaker believed to be the first openly transgender person elected to a state legislature in U.S. history, has pleaded guilty to federal child sex abuse charges.
According to Fox News, WMUR reported that the 41-year-old ex-legislator entered her plea in a Boston federal courtroom on charges of sexual exploitation of children involving child sexual abuse materials.
Laughton and her ex-girlfriend, Lindsay Groves, were accused of working together to exploit children at Creative Minds, a daycare center in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, where Groves had been employed.
Investigators said Groves took nude photos of children under the age of five and sent them to Laughton in 2022, while Laughton was serving as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
An affidavit stated the pair “exchanged thousands of text messages” around the time the images were shared. In those messages, Laughton expressed interest in sexually abusing the children, according to authorities.
Laughton first made headlines in 2012 after being elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to a state legislature. However, former Massachusetts lawmaker Althea Garrison, elected in 1992, was technically the first transgender elected official, though she was not publicly out at the time.
Laughton’s political career was marred by legal troubles. After her 2012 election, she declined to serve because of previous felony credit card fraud convictions. She later ran unsuccessfully in 2014 before winning a seat again in 2020 to represent Nashua’s Ward 3.
She resigned in 2022 following an arrest in a stalking case.
