Stacie Laughton, a former Democratic representative from Nashua, New Hampshire, has pleaded guilty to the charge of sexual exploitation of children. Laughton, who was the first transgender-identifying individual elected to a state legislature in the United States in 2012, was involved in a case where he persuaded his partner, who worked at a daycare, to send him sexually explicit images of children.

Laughton was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives three times but resigned twice due to various legal issues, including a 2015 incident where he made a hoax bomb threat against a hospital, attributing the act to mental health challenges. In 2023, Laughton and his former partner, Lindsay Groves, were arrested after law enforcement received reports of Laughton showing explicit images of young children to another individual. Legal documents indicated that Laughton and Groves exchanged over 10,000 messages discussing the sexual abuse of children at the daycare, with Laughton encouraging Groves to take explicit images of herself abusing children as young as five.

Laughton has pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of children, which carries a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison, along with a potential fine of $250,000. This case highlights significant concerns regarding the intersection of political representation and the safeguarding of vulnerable populations, particularly children.