Family of alleged child sex abuse victim files lawsuit against Tyngsboro daycare facility

TYNGSBORO, Mass. — The family of an alleged child sex abuse victim who attended a Tyngsboro daycare has filed a civil lawsuit against the daycare facility.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Middlesex Superior Court by Quincy attorneys Robert Norton and Roger Donahue on behalf of the family of a boy claiming sexual abuse by a daycare teacher at Creative Minds Early Learning Center at 164 Westford Ave. in Tyngsboro.

The lawsuit alleges that Creative Minds “did nothing to protect the children” from Lindsay Groves, a teacher at the daycare who is accused of taking sexually-explicit photographs of children there.

Groves is accused of then sharing the sexually-explicit photographs of the children with former New Hampshire State Rep. Stacie Laughton, the state’s first openly transgender lawmaker, who is also charged in the case.

Groves, 38, allegedly took nude cell phone images of children between the ages of 3 and 5 in the daycare’s bathroom between May 2022 and June 2023, and then sent the photos to Laughton via text message, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Authorities allege that Laughton had been requesting and receiving sexually explicit pictures from Groves of both young boys and girls.

Prosecutors earlier said a review of Grove’s cell phone allegedly revealed over 2,500 text messages between Groves and Laughton.

According to the lawsuit, as early as 2018, the owner and director of Creative Minds were told by a parent of a child under the facility’s care that Groves “was inappropriately touching children under their care.”

“Despite being told this information, Creative Minds did nothing to protect the children from Lindsay Groves,” the lawsuit states. “Creative Minds did nothing to remove Lindsay Groves or prevent her from having access to the children under their care.”

In 2022, the owner and director were again told that Groves was “acting inappropriately by taking illicit photographs of the children,” the lawsuit states.

“Again, despite being given this information, Creative Minds took no action to remove or prevent Lindsay Groves from having access to the children and, in fact, continued to allow her to be alone with the children,” the lawsuit states.

The boy’s mother enrolled her son in the childcare program in October 2022, and the family claims the boy was “repeatedly sexually assaulted and abused” by Groves at the facility while under their care, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit, which seeks more than $50,000 in damages, states that the boy “continues to suffer from severe physical and emotional injuries, including but not specifically limited to, incontinence and expressions and manifestations of anger, sadness, depression and feelings of guilt,” court documents show.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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