Former Democratic Transgender State Representative arrested on child pornography charges in New Hampshire

Police arrested the nation’s first transgender former state representative for four counts of distributing sexually explicit images of minors. The New Hampshire Democrat already had a criminal past.

As explained by the Nashua Police Department, Stacie-Marie Laughton, a 39-year-old biological man who openly identifies as a woman, was arrested following an investigation that was opened after authorities received a call informing them of the former representative’s alleged criminal activities.

“They spoke with reporting parties that indicated Laughton distributed sexually explicit images of children. Detectives from the special investigations division were assigned to further the investigation. They applied for and were granted a warrant for Laughton’s arrest,” said John Cinelli, public information officer for the department.

Laughton’s legal problems

Laughton’s criminal history dates back to 2002 when she was arrested for domestic violence. The following year she was also arrested for assaulting a woman. In 2012, shortly after she became the first transgender person to be elected as a New Hampshire state representative, it came to light that in 2008 she was convicted of committing credit card fraud.

In 2015, Laughton was also sentenced to six months in prison for making a false explosives report at a hospital. In 2021 she was once again arrested on charges related to misuse of the state’s 911 text messaging system.

Despite all of the above, Laughton decided to return to politics and ran in the 2022 election to represent New Hampshire and won, but once again was unable to hold office because she was jailed on multiple harassment-related charges.

In the past, Laughton has claimed to have a mental illness that allegedly led her to commit certain crimes. “I went without treatment for a long time and had no medication. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, and it was totally out of character for me. I’ve left a lot behind and I never thought I’d do this in a million years,” he said after being arrested for calling in a false bomb threat.