Stacie Laughton is charged with aiding and abetting the sexual exploitation of children

BOSTON (AP) — A former New Hampshire state lawmaker and the one-time partner of a woman charged with taking sexually explicit photos of children at the Massachusetts day care center where she worked has also been charged in the case, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Stacie Marie Laughton, 39, of Nashua, New Hampshire, is charged with aiding and abetting the sexual exploitation of children, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said in a statement. No defense attorney was listed for Laughton in court records. She will appear in court at a later date. Lindsay Groves, 38, of Hudson, New Hampshire, was charged last month with sexual exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography for allegedly taking nude photos of children at Creative Minds Early Learning Center in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, and texting them to another person. Prosecutors said Tuesday that a preliminary forensic review of Groves’ cellphone allegedly revealed more than 10,000 text messages between Laughton and Groves. The texts allegedly included discussion about, and transfer of, explicit photographs that Groves had taken of children who appear to be about 3 to 5 years old.