Overview
- A federal judge sentenced Stacie‑Marie Laughton to just over 33 years in prison on Thursday after she pleaded guilty to aiding the sexual exploitation of children.
- Lindsay Groves, a former daycare worker at Creative Minds in Tyngsborough who admitted to taking explicit photos, was earlier sentenced to about 22 years in federal prison.
- Prosecutors say Groves photographed children who appeared to be about 3 to 5 years old during routine care such as bathroom breaks and diaper changes and then sent the images to Laughton.
- A forensic review of the pair’s phones recovered more than 10,000 messages and explicit images that prosecutors used to show sustained planning and to argue Laughton was the principal instigator.
- Defense filings noted Laughton’s troubled upbringing and mental‑health treatment while prosecutors emphasized her prior legal problems and public role, and the case raises questions about trust in child‑care settings and protections for young victims.