NH: Former State Rep Arrested (Again, Again)

Stacie-Marie Laughton, a New Hampshire woman who has been arrested several times and served as a state representative one time, was arrested again recently, this time for distributing child pornography. She is also trans, making the story catnip for right wing media.

by Evan Urquhart

Sinclair affiliates are claiming that the first openly transgender state legislator has been arrested on child pornography charges. This is false, as fans of Danica Roem (the first openly transgender slate legislator) will be relieved to hear. The actual legislator is Stacie-Marie Laughton, who served in the New Hampshire legislature from 2020-2022, won re-election, and then resigned after she was arrested on stalking charges. Assigned covered the story in December, noting that there are a lot of people in state government and it’s not all that difficult to find examples of them behaving badly.

Laughton was, technically, the first openly transgender person elected to a state legislature in the US, way back in 2012. However she did not actually serve as a legislator due to yet another criminal incident. Shortly after her election it emerged that she’d served time for credit card fraud, and she was unable to take her seat because she hadn’t fully completed the requirements of her conviction, according to the Boston Globe and other outlets.

The credit card fraud and stalking were not, remarkably, the only run ins Laughton had with the criminal justice system. She also pled guilty to a misdemeanor in 2015, after calling in a bomb threat to a hospital. At the time, Laughton blamed untreated mental illness.

The child pornography distribution charges against Laughton seem by far the worst yet, and absolutely should not be downplayed. However, we will briefly note that politicians being arrested on child porn or sexual abuse charges is far from unprecedented, and all the previous cases we’re aware of have been cisgender politicians.