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Former Democratic lawmaker Stacie Marie Laughton, who made history as the nation’s first transgender state representative, is set to make history again as the state’s first legislator to spend decades behind bars on federal child pornography convictions.

Laughton, 41, born Barry Laughton, took a plea deal last week in the sickening case that’s kept him behind bars since 2023. Laughton could now get up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child sex abuse images — images provided by ex-girlfriend and co-defendant Lindsay Groves, 40.

Groves entered into her own plea agreement last month, admitting to sending Laughton explicit photos of children she was supposed to be minding at the Massachusetts daycare where she worked. The couple is now set to be sentenced in February in the federal court in Boston.

Laughton and Groves share a messy history as a couple, along with their horrific sexual tastes. According to court records, Laughton repeatedly tried to get Groves fired from her daycare job during a 2022 breakup, claiming Groves was a pedophile. Laughton reported Groves to the police and additionally used his social media and radio program to accuse Groves of pedophilia, according to court records.

Those 2022 accusations were deemed false and ended up being part of the November 2022 stalking case against Laughton that landed the Nashua politician behind bars weeks after his election to the House. Democrats waited weeks to finally push Laughton to resign his seat that December.

But a year after Laughton’s accusations were seemingly discounted, the pair were arrested for actual pedophilia. According to court records, Groves had been texting Laughton nude photos of children from her daycare in the spring of 2022 as Laughton mused about child rape.

“I just don’t wanna get in trouble. I mean I want to do what we want to do because we like it and we approve of it but others think this is wrong. Lots of parents don’t like people touching their kids and it is against the law …” Laughton texted to Groves.

Laughton and Groves are unlikely to see each other again for some time. Groves is a biological woman and has been held in women’s facilities during the pre-trial incarceration. Laughton, on the other hand, has been held in men’s facilities since his 2023 arrest.

The convictions effectively close the possibility of a third act for the Nashua Democrat. First elected in 2012, Laughton was forced to resign when his criminal past was uncovered. At the time of the 2012 election, Laughton was still on probation for a 2008 felony credit card fraud conviction, and therefore ineligible for office under New Hampshire law.

But Laughton returned to politics in 2019 after finally paying the court-ordered $2,000 restitution in the credit card fraud case, and was again elected to the House in 2020. State Democrats and voters seemed willing to overlook Laughton’s 2015 conviction for making bomb threats against Southern New Hampshire Medical Center. 

Laughton’s second act ended with the 2022 stalking case, which resulted in a suspended jail sentence. 

New Hampshire’s first elected transgender-identifying state House member, Democrat Stacie Marie Laughton of Nashua, won’t have a happy Halloween this year.

Laughton, 41, born Barry Laughton, is set to appear in the United States District Court in Boston on Friday for a change of plea hearing in the child sex abuse image case that’s had him locked up for more than two years.

The Friday court date will likely see Laughton plead guilty to at least one of the three serious felony indictments against him.

The Halloween plea hearing comes weeks after his accomplice and lover, Lindsay Groves, 40, pleaded guilty for her role in the couple’s sick scheme. Groves used her position at a Massachusetts daycare to take explicit photos of the children she was supposed to be watching. Some of the victims were as young as three. Those photos were then shared via text message between the couple, who discussed raping children and hiding their crimes from the parents in thousands of grotesque notes.

Court records give a hint of the horrific Groves and Laughton Laughton relationship. In one text message, Laughton said there is nothing wrong with sexually abusing children.

“Oh, I know, but I just don’t wanna get in trouble. I mean, I want to do what we want to do because we like it and we approve of it, but others think this is wrong. Lots of parents don’t like people touching their kids, and it is against the law …” Laughton wrote in one exchange.

In another message, Laughton seems to admit to raping a child with Groves.

“I was asking because I know we’ve had some back-and-forth, and I know we initially said we do nothing with kids ever again, and you said you were afraid that if we had kids if they would go back and tell the parents the same with the kids you work with,” Laughton texted to Groves.

Earlier this month, Groves pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography. Each count of sexual exploitation of a child carries a possible 15 to 30 years prison sentence. Groves could get another 20 years for the distribution of child pornography charge. Groves has a sentencing hearing set for February. 

Laughton is supposed to go on trial next week on three felony charges of the sexual exploitation of children. If the case does go to a jury, Groves would likely be a prosecution witness under her plea deal.

Groves took the plea deal after failing in her quest to be deemed too incompetent to stand trial. Groves and her legal team fought for more than a year to get her diagnosed as too mentally impaired to understand the charges or help in her own defense. But United States District Court Judge Dennis Saylor rejected that argument after hearing from defense and prosecution mental health experts. While Groves is mentally and emotionally handicapped, she knows what she is doing, Saylor ruled.

“In short, (Groves) has repeatedly shown that despite her many limitations, she is capable of ordered thinking and rational communication, and that she has the ability to navigate reasonably complex situations, including obtaining higher education and holding employment for extended periods. She understands the essential nature and potential consequences of the alleged crime, and can provide meaningful assistance to her defense,” Saylor wrote. 

Though Laughton was accepted by the New Hampshire Democratic Party as transgendered when he ran for office — state party chair Ray Buckley celebrated him as part of “the backbone of New Hampshire” — he does not seem to be living as a female in any other aspect of his life. Away from his political persona as a transgender woman, Laughton was married for many years to biological woman Lisa Laughton, his alleged co-conspirator in a 2008 fraud case. Laughton additionally conducted a long-term sexual relationship with Groves, also a biological woman.

The criminal justice system seems to agree with the gender Laughton maintains in his private life. The Federal Bureau of Prisons lists Laughton as a male who was last in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., as of this month. He was also kept with other men inside Valley Street Jail immediately after the June 2023 arrest.

The woman who used her job at a daycare to create thousands of child sex abuse images for former New Hampshire Rep. Stacie Marie Laughton (D-Nashua) has entered into a plea agreement just weeks before Laughton’s own trial is set to begin.

Lindsay Groves, 40, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography in federal court in Boston on Tuesday. Each count of sexual exploitation of a child carries a possible 15- to 30-year prison sentence, and Groves could receive another 20 years for the distribution charge.

By entering into a plea agreement that requires her to testify against Laughton, Groves could get considerably less time in prison once the former state representative’s case is complete.

Groves is due for a sentencing hearing in February, when her fate will be determined.

Stacie Laughton

The stomach-churning details of the alleged crimes involve Groves and her partner, Laughton — a biological male who identifies as female — sending some 10,000 texts to each other between May 2022 and June 2023 in which the two discussed having sex with children. Groves also sent numerous explicit photos of children, many of whom were in her care at the Massachusetts daycare where she worked.

Some of the victims were as young as three years old, according to court records.

The pair has been in federal custody since their arrests in June 2023. The Federal Bureau of Prisons lists Laughton as male and last in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., as of this month.

The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for federal prisoners detained pretrial, and the agency may send prisoners to various state and federal facilities as necessary. It’s not clear where Laughton is currently held, though he is likely closer to Boston with the trial looming. Groves also remains in the custody of the U.S. marshals pending her sentencing. The Marshals Service, like many federal agencies, is limited in its ability to respond to media inquiries during the government funding shutdown.

Laughton is a history-making Democrat in New Hampshire, though ultimately not in a good way. He was elected to the House in 2012 as the state’s first transgender lawmaker but had to resign within weeks when his criminal past came to light. Laughton was still on probation for a felony conviction, barring him from holding office.

He stuck around, however, and was elected to the House again in 2020 once his legal issues appeared to be resolved. But Laughton’s appearance of good behavior was short-lived.

In 2022, Laughton was charged with harassing Groves and her family, costing him his seat in the legislature. He was arrested in November 2022 for stalking Groves, shortly after winning reelection to the House. Laughton was jailed for weeks but remained in office until the House Democratic Caucus finally forced his resignation.

It came out during the stalking case that Laughton had called police to report that Groves was abusing children at the daycare — allegations that were then believed to be part of the ongoing harassment. Laughton is alleged to have repeatedly tried to get Groves fired from her job, claiming she was a pedophile. He reportedly made those accusations to police, on social media, and on his radio program, according to court records.

According to records in the federal case, Laughton and Groves began sharing the explicit photos and texts after the resolution of the stalking case.

Born Barry Laughton, his use of a female identity has never been complete. Laughton was housed as a male at the Valley Street Jail immediately after the June 2023 arrest and has appeared to be treated as male by federal authorities.

He was married to Lisa Laughton for many years, his alleged co-conspirator in the 2008 fraud case that led to his removal from the House in 2012. Laughton has also maintained a long-term sexual relationship with Groves. Both Groves and Lisa Laughton are biological women.