A second woman is facing federal charges in a child sex abuse images investigation centered around an employee at a Massachusetts day care, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts.
Stacie Marie Laughton, 39, of Nashua, New Hampshire, is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and aiding and abetting. The charges are tied to an investigation into Lindsay Groves, a former employee of the Creative Minds Early Learning Center in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, who is accused of taking sexually explicit photos of children in her care.
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Prosecutors said that from May 2022 until June, Groves took naked images of children during bathroom breaks before their naptime.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Tuesday that Groves and Laughton were once in a relationship and allege that Laughton was involved with the child sex abuse images. Prosecutors said there were over 10,000 text messages between the two that included sexually explicit photos of children or discussion about the photos. There were at least four sexually explicit images of children who appear to be between the ages of 3 and 5, authorities said.
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Laughton was previously charged by Nashua police with multiple counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images. She is a former state representative who had previously been charged in a stalking case, police in Nashua also confirmed.
Laughton's mother previously spoke with NBC10 Boston and said that her daughter had done nothing wrong and did not ask for any photos to be sent to her.
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Laughton will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
Groves is facing one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography, federal prosecutors said.
Attorneys for Creative Minds Early Education previously issued a statement to NBC10 Boston:
"Creative Minds Early Education is cooperating fully with law enforcement to ensure a complete and extensive investigation into the allegations regarding a single former staff member," the statement said. "We want to ensure our families that their children's safety and provacy [sic] is one of the utmost importance. We will make every effort to support all of our families during this difficult time. We are requesting that members of the media please respect our privacy as well as the provacy [sic] of our families."
A family of one of the alleged victims has filed a lawsuit against the day care, claiming negligence.
Anyone with questions or concerns about this investigation can contact authorities at 617-748-3274.
