Former state Rep. Stacie Marie Laughton of Derry, the first openly transgender person elected to the N.H. House of Representatives, was arrested Thursday by Nashua police on charges she allegedly distributed child sexual abuse images, officials said.
On Tuesday, June 20, Nashua police responded to a local facility for a juvenile matter, officials said in a release. Officers spoke with individuals there who indicated Laughton allegedly distributed sexually explicit images of children, police said.
Detectives from the Special Investigations Division applied for and were granted a warrant for Laughton’s arrest. She was arrested Thursday with distribution of child sexual abuse images. She was also charged with three additional counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images, Nashua police said.
Laughton was held on preventative detention, and is scheduled to be arraigned at Hillsborough Superior Court-South on Friday.
Laughton, a former Democratic state representative from Nashua, resigned her Ward 4 seat in the House in December 2022.
At the time, Laughton posted a video on Facebook announcing her resignation to friends, family and supporters.
“As of today, I’m no longer a state representative which is very disappointing, but I’m going to come back to it,” Laughton says in the video. “I will be attending mental health court and getting some counseling and trying to get my life back on track. I’m not perfect. Even in the future I still won’t be perfect but I will be a better version of myself and better able to handle situations that come my way. In two years, the next state election, I will run for state representative again.”
According to published reports, Laughton was arrested for stalking in September 2022, and again later that same year.
Laughton was arrested on a warrant in Hudson on a stalking order charge, and accused by police of communicating with the victim on social media on Nov. 8.
She was also accused of stalking and harassment, according to Nashua police.
After it became clear Laughton wasn’t present at the State House for the swearing in of House members on Organization Day in December 2022, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley called on Laughton to resign.
In her December 2022 Facebook message, Laughton said she’s been “dealing with a lot.”
“I’m alive, I’m safe, I’m well,” Laughton says in the video. “I’m not suicidal, and just trying to get by every day with what I’ve been dealt. I don’t know what the future holds but I do know this — there’s a lot of good opportunities out there for me to serve, and a lot of good opportunities for me to still stay connected with everyone and I plan to do that.”
In 2008, Laughton was convicted of conspiracy to commit credit card fraud while living in Laconia as a man.
After winning election in 2012, Laughton resigned after the felony conviction came to light.
And, in 2015, Laughton was sentenced to a suspended six-month jail term for reporting a bomb threat at a local hospital and voluntarily admitted herself to a mental health and addiction treatment facility in Vermont.
On Nov. 8, 2022, Laughton finished second in the race for three seats in Nashua Ward 4, the most Democratic ward in the city.
Democrat Marc Plamondon, a former Nashua alderman, defeated Republican nominee David Narkunas, 151-60, in a special election last month to fill Laughton’s former seat.
Nashua police request anyone with more information about this incident to contact the Crime Line at (603) 589-1665.
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